Arsenal took a misstep in the Premier League title race after losing 2-0 at home to West Ham in the Premier League's festive season. At the Emirates, the hosts dominated possession and shots, but were unable to find a goal.
The match was marked by a controversial moment in the opening goal of the "Hammers". In the 13th minute, visiting striker Jared Bowen played the ball back from the byline to Tomas Soucek, who scored to make it 1-0, with doubts remaining that the ball had gone out of play. After a nearly 4-minute VAR check, it was announced that there was not a good enough shot to determine whether the ball went out and the goal was counted. Ten minutes after the break, the "gunners" were scorched with a second goal. Centre-back Konstantinos Mavropoulos, who also played for Arsenal years ago, headed home a cross from James Ward-Prowse's corner.
In the remaining minutes, Gabriel Jesus missed two excellent chances to bring Arsenal back into the game and Bukayo Saka's shot hit the post. At the very end, West Ham could have gone for a third goal, but Said Benrahms was unable to beat David Raya from the penalty spot.
In doing so, Arsenal recorded their third defeat since the start of the season and are two points behind leaders Liverpool. For their part, in the space of a few days, West Ham beat Manchester United and Arsenal to climb to sixth place in the table with 33 points.
In last night's other game, Brighton beat Tottenham 4-2 at home. /BGNES
