Arsenal player ratings as 'anonymous' forward and 'ruffled' midfielder land 4/10s in West Ham defeat

Arsenal suffered a crushing blow to their title hopes on Saturday, losing to West Ham in a game that saw them struggle and fail to create sufficient opportunities to overcome a well-worked first-half Jarrod Bowen goal.

The Gunners fell behind in the 43rd minute having been frustrated by a solid Hammers back-line for much of the first half. Bowen set the counter-attack on its way by playing the ball wide to Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The full-back galloped down the pitch and took on Riccardo Calafiori before delivering a poin-point cross to find Bowen in the box for a diving header into the gaping net, with David Raya caught at his front post.

Life got more difficult for Arsenal in the 71st minute when, after failing to create chances in spite of their domination of possession, substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly chopped down Mohamed Kudus to deny him a goal-scoring opportunity when David Raya was caught 40 yards out of his goal. Lewis-Skelly was initially given a yellow card, but it was upgraded to a red card upon review, and he knew it was coming.

Arsenal huffed and puffed late on, but they were left bereft of ideas here against a very impressive defensive display from the Hammers. Here we rate the Gunners players from what could prove to be a very costly defeat.

David Raya - 5

His positioning was not great for the opener, seemingly unaware that the cross would land on Bowen’s head, not that the goal was his fault - it certainly wasn’t. He was then caught 40 yards off his line for the red card, and his positioning forced Lewis-Skelly into committing the foul. With West Ham so deep, there was absolutely no need for Raya to be that far up the pitch.

Riccardo Calafiori (Off at 58’) - 5

Came close a couple of times in the first half, regularly turning up at the edge of West Ham’s box. Defensively, he should have done better to stop Wan-Bissaka making the cross for the opener, allowing him too much space. The Italian wasn’t much better in the second half and was brought off before the hour mark.

William Saliba (Off at 86’) - 6

Not at fault for the goal and was generally steady. Given how low West Ham were, Arsenal could have done with using their centre-backs more often in the build-up.

Gabriel Magalhaes - 5

Gabriel was steady overall here, but Mohamed Kudus was able to stretch the back-line too often, and he picked on Gabriel, especially late on, perhaps taking inspiration from Alexander Isak a couple of weeks ago. He could perhaps lose another point for putting Lewis-Skelly in trouble with his pass, but you could also argue the youngster should have sensed the pressure and got rid of it with his first touch.

Jurrien Timber - 6

Largely steady and offered an option getting forward. Though, things were too compact at the top end of the pitch for full-backs to get very involved.

Declan Rice (58’) - 4

Rice lost his man for the opening goal. He was looking at Bowen all the way and then consciously decided not to follow him to the middle of the box, taking up a position at the already occupied front post, only for the ball to float over him and find the consequently unmarked Bowen in space. He was Rice’s man. Rice came off just before the hour-mark having failed to have his say against his old club. It’s rare to see the usually dominant midfielder as ruffled as he was here.

Thomas Partey - 6

Partey did his job defensively and kept things ticking over on the ball. That is his role in this team, and he fulfilled it.

Martin Odegaard - 6

Tried everything to carve open a deep West Ham line, particularly in the second half, but there wasn’t much to be had given the limited space for players to run into in front of him. This game was going to take something special, and you would like Odegaard to have produced it, but he was busy and willing, so he gets a respectable score.

Ethan Nwaneri (Off at 81’) - 5

Struggled to create and get into space in the first half, and found it tough against Oliver Scarles, who had a superb game here. The youngster got the better of Nwaneri here. The winger came off late on and looked to be limping a little as he left the pitch. That will be a concern.

Leandro Trossard - 5

Much more involved in the second half than the first, and came close with a decent effort in the 62nd minute. Unable to find or create any telling moment, though.

Mikel Merino - 4

Didn’t see a lot of the ball in the first half, with West Ham defending well, and it got no easier in the second given the Irons deepened their line to defend the lead. This wasn’t the kind of game where you can get away with a makeshift forward, and with Merino anonymous for almost the whole game, it’s surprising Arteta did not change things up. It was too easy for West Ham, virtually not having to worry about defending a striker for the whole game.

Substitutes

Oleksandr Zinchenko (On at 58’) - 6

Plenty involved and offered more than Rice on the ball. Like the rest of his teammates, he was unable to carve open West Ham, but he was an improvement on Rice on this occasion.

Myles Lewis-Skelly (On at 58’, sent off 71’) - 5

Sent off after attempting to drag down and then successfully chop down Mohamed Kudus in the 71st minute. The yellow card was upgraded to a red after review, and it was a justified decision. It took place on the half-way line, but David Raya was at least 40 yards out of his goal, and Kudus was about to have a free shot on goal. Lewis-Skelly knew what he was doing, but he only loses a point in the rating because he was put in a tricky situation by Gabriel with the pass and had no option but to commit the foul. Although, you could argue he should have pumped the ball away with his first touch. If he hadn’t made the tackle, it would have been game over there and then.

Raheem Sterling (On at 81’) - 6

Sterling played wide and showed desire, but he was unable to have a say on the outcome, failing to trouble a rock-solid West Ham block.

Ben White (On at 86’) - 6

Good to see White back, but he did not have the time to make a big impact here, with Arsenal in more need of an attacking substitution. White did have one shot in stoppage time, but it whistled wide from an awkward angle.

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