Arsenal escaped with a 1-0 win over West Ham on Sunday night thanks to Leandro Trossard’s goal and VAR after a tactically difficult day for manager Mikel Arteta.
Mikel Arteta speaks after Arsenal’s narrow win at West Ham (Image: Sky Sports)
Mikel Arteta has admitted that his decision “didn’t go well” after Ben White was sent off injured against West Ham. Arsenal secured a crucial 1-0 win at the London Stadium on Sunday after a stoppage-time equalizer was ruled out by VAR. And the Gunners have overcome a difficult tactical challenge.
After Callum Wilson’s 95th-minute equalizer was ruled out for chalk after a VAR review, Leandro Trossard’s deflected shot made the difference between the two teams. The game in east London was a close one, and it also depended on Arteta’s own decisions.
White was unable to continue after being tackled by Crisencio Somerville in the first half, prompting Arteta to bring in Martin Zvimendi at right-back. Declan Rice was moved to right-back by half-time, and Arteta reshuffled the team once again, bringing on Cristian Mosquera for left-back Riccardo Calafioli.
Mosquera moved to right-back, Miles Lewis-Skelly moved from midfield to left-back, and Rice returned to midfield. Midway through the second half, Arteta introduced Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz in place of substitutes Zvimendi and Ebelesi Eze.
Follow the Arsenal FB page! For the latest Gunners news and details, visit our dedicated Facebook page.
read more: Leandro Trossard and VAR sink West Ham as Arsenal move closer to title – 6 talking pointsread more: Jarrod Bowen slams VAR after denying West Ham late equalizer against Arsenal
In his post-match speech, Arteta hinted that his initial decision to send Rice to right-back was a mistake that forced him to be substituted, and that he would need to rectify it later in the match.
“We were very dominant in what we wanted to do, so bringing Mosquera in would give us something different, so we chose Declan. At that moment, I don’t know if it was because of the position, but there were two actions where we struggled a little bit on that front,” he told Sky Sports.
“We had a chance at half-time because Ricky also had to go off, but it hurts to make another change. We did that and felt we had to change the game at some point. We need two players who can be proper attacking midfielders and go into the pocket. We went for it and were rewarded.”
Ben White limped off midway through the first half (Image: AFP/Getty Images)
In a separate interview with Match of the Day, Arteta said: “I thought we started the game very well. We created three big chances but couldn’t score. Then Ben White got injured so we have to adjust.”
“It didn’t really go well and at half-time we had to change Calafioli as well and we had to make changes, so it wasn’t ideal. But I think we showed a lot of courage with that change and the personal stuff that we brought. Apart from David’s save in the 70th minute (to deny Matheus Fernandes), I think we were rewarded because Martin did an incredible thing to win the game.”
Arteta also referred to the VAR decision that ruled out Wilson’s goal for Pablo’s foul on David Raya. “At the end of the day, this is the beauty of the Premier League,” he said. “In the chaos, with the keeper in the box, they managed to score. The referee and VAR took a very brave move today to stop the action, analyze it and give the referee an opportunity to make a decision.”
“No one would dispute that this was a clear foul because David almost had the ball in his hands and they didn’t allow it and they took advantage of that and scored the goal.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+ and Ultimate TV packages
Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundles to include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, plus 135 channels and complete coverage of the Premier League and EFL from Sky.
Sky has over 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more, with at least 215 of them live from the top flight, along with F1, darts and golf.
