West Ham 0-1 Arsenal: Trossard strikes late to give Arsenal a huge advantage in the title race | OneFootball

Arsenal struck late with a Trossard goal to take a massive step closer to the Premier League title, with West Ham sinking deeper into the relegation zone.

A game which meant so much to both teams wasn’t filled with clear-cut chances, but Arsenal were able to get over the line late on after Leandro Trossard came up with a monumental goal, sending Arsenal five points clear, and sinking West Ham United deeper into relegation troubles.

The game wasn’t without controversy as West Ham thought they levelled in the final minutes, but VAR controversially came to the conclusion that David Raya was fouled before the goal, in a decision which will have consequences at both ends of the Premier League table.

As it happened

The first opportunity of the game fell to the visitors as Leandro Trossard picked out Riccardo Calafiori with a lovely ball in behind but the Italian was caught in two minds and couldn’t get his shot away quickly enough. From the resulting corner, Trossard looked as though he had headed home on two occasions but he was denied by Mads Hermansen initially, before his second effort hit the woodwork and West Ham were able to survive the early Arsenal dominance.

Calafiori again came close to scoring as he flicked on a Declan Rice free-kick which was miraculously kept out by Konstantinos Mavropanos as it was headed goalbound, and William Saliba looked set to tap home before El Hadji Malick Diouf got back to clear it in the nick of time.

West Ham grew into the game as the first half wore on and came close to going in front just before the break. Aaron Wan-Bissaka drove forward before picking out Taty Castellanos, whose diving header made David Raya make his first save of the contest, diving down to his right to keep it out. Jean-Clair Todibo very nearly got on the end of a goalmouth scramble but couldn’t make proper contact when the ball fell to him and the opportunity passed to bring the first-half to a goalless conclusion.

After a slow, cagey start to the second half, Arsenal had another one cleared off the line, as Mavropanos again came to his side’s aid to the detriment of his former employers’ title ambitions.

But it was West Ham United who had the big chance. Mateus Fernandes found himself one-on-one with Raya, but the Spanish goalkeeper came up with an astonishing save from point-blank range to keep his side level.

And a couple of minutes later, Arsenal found the moment they were dreaming of. Martin Ødegaard worked some space in the box before laying the ball to Trossard, who fired home to give Arsenal a priceless lead at the London Stadium.

The game came to an astonishing conclusion as West Ham struck a dagger into Arsenal hearts. The ball fell to Callum Wilson in the box from a corner, and the veteran striker fired home to grab the Hammers a vital goal. But referee Chris Kavanagh was called over to the VAR screen and eventually gave a foul on the Arsenal goalkeeper, in a decision which may have huge consequences at both ends of the table as the game finished 1-0 to the Gunners.