Arsenal 3-1 West Ham: Gunners move seven points clear at top of Premier League in front of former boss Arsene Wenger

Arsenal produced a stunning second-half comeback to move seven points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 3-1 win over West Ham, on a night when former Gunners boss Arsene Wenger returned to the Emirates Stadium for the first time since leaving the club in 2018.

Wenger, who spent 22 years at Arsenal, had not hidden the fact that he found his Arsenal departure difficult and insisted he didn’t have any plans to return to watch his former side.

However, FIFA’s chief of global football development was back, and it looked like his former side were heading for a difficult night when they went behind to Said Benrahma’s penalty after William Saliba brought down Jarrod Bowen inside the box (27).

The Gunners needed to find a response after the break and they did just that as two goals in five minutes from Bukayo Saka (53) and Gabriel Martinelli (58) brought a smile to Wenger’s face, before Eddie Nketiah, leading the line for Arsenal in the absence of Gabriel Jesus, rounded off a brilliant night for Mikel Arteta’s side (69).

On Arsenal’s win on the day Wenger ended his exile at Arsenal, Arteta said: “It’s a special day.

“Thank you so much for him coming and hopefully walking through the building he is going to feel everything that everybody thinks of him, everything that he left here, but also his presence is something that has to be very attached to this football club. So, thank you for doing that because it means a lot to every body at the club.

“It’s great and winning my mood is going to be better to speak to him and be around the team. He picked the right moment. I thought the performance today was at a level that he deserved and that hopefully he would like.”

Victory sees Arsenal move seven points clear of second-placed Newcastle, who beat Leicester 3-0 earlier on Boxing Day, while third-placed Man City have the chance to respond when they travel to Leeds on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, West Ham, who suffered a fourth straight Premier League defeat, remain 16th.

Arteta on Premier League title talk: ‘We need to focus on us’

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta:

“I’m really happy with the performance first of all and then the result.

“Obviously, the context of the game was that they went a goal up, but you saw the reaction of this crowd, generating belief and just giving a lot of energy to the team and the team showed a lot of composure and real quality, but also real clarity to understand what the game demanded, and they executed that really well.

On title talk: “What I tell the players is we have to focus on us. We cannot control what the opponents are going to do, how good they are going to become or how many points they are going to get or drop, so we have to focus on our performance, what we are doing every day and what has brought us here.

“It is not a coincidence, so we need to keep doing what we are doing.

“We overcame a challenge and a difficult moment on top of injuries that we had with Jesus, Smith Rowe and Tomiyasu out. The team still believed and played to the level that they did again.”

How Arsenal stormed back to beat West Ham…

Arsenal’s special guest was up on his feet as early as the fourth minute when Saka thumped the ball into the roof of the net from a tight angle, but Wenger and the Gunners were forced to cut their celebrations short as the ball flicked Nketiah, who was in an offside position, on the way through to Saka.

Wenger would have been pleased with what he saw, however, as the Gunners dominated the early stages. Martin Odegaard was inches away from playing Granit Xhaka in on goal, while moments later, the Switzerland international’s low shot was well held by Lukasz Fabianski.

But for all Arsenal’s dominance, it was West Ham who took the lead. Moyes’ side had threatened on a couple of previous occasions on the counter-attack, and they made one count as Bowen forced Saliba into a desperate lunge just inside the penalty area.

The Frenchman made contact with Bowen, who tried to stay on his feet before eventually going to ground, and referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot. After a VAR check, Benrahma made no mistake to score only West Ham’s fourth away goal of the season.

As they have done already this season on a number of occasions, the home fans tried to galvanise their team, and Arsenal thought they had a way back into the game deep into first-half stoppage time. Odegaard’s shot was blocked with what referee Michael Oliver thought was Cresswell’s arm and he pointed to the penalty spot.

However, after being sent to the pitch side monitor by VAR, Oliver changed his decision after seeing the ball clearly come off Creswell’s head, leaving West Ham going into the break ahead.

A big half-time team talk was needed from Arteta, and he got the response he wanted from his side early in the second half, albeit with a stroke of fortune.

Odegaard’s wayward long-range effort landed beautifully at the feet of Saka, who controlled it perfectly before stroking a cool finish into the bottom corner.

The Emirates was rocking again, and the smile was firmly back on Wenger’s face as the Gunners produced a move reminiscent of the Frenchman’s best years in charge of the north London club. They worked the ball quickly to Martinelli, who fired a brilliant low finish past Fabianski at his near post to complete a stunning turnaround.

The points were made safe when Odegaard’s pass picked out Nketiah, and the striker turned Thilo Kehrer brilliantly before firing an emphatic finish into the bottom corner to complete a brilliant night for Arsenal, Arteta and the Gunners’ returning boss.

Arsenal’s able deputy takes his chance

Sky Sports’ Oliver Yew at the Emirates Stadium:

There was plenty being placed on the shoulders of Eddie Nketiah ahead of the Premier League’s return.

It was no secret that Mikel Arteta was putting his trust in the striker with Gabriel Jesus sidelined by an injury he picked up at the World Cup with Brazil.

Could Nketiah fill the void of Jesus? Could he help keep Arsenal’s title challenge on track in the absence of the Brazilian? There were doubts, and plenty of them.

Not from the Arsenal camp, however. Arteta was convinced Nketiah had what it took, and skipper Martin Odegaard insisted in his programme notes that Nketiah was ready.

He had the support of the Emirates crowd too. They were willing him to score as he raced clear in the first half before his shot was well blocked. But they did eventually get their moment as Nketiah produced the moment of the match to turn Thilo Kehrer before firing an emphatic finish past Luka Lukasz Fabianski to seal all three points for Arsenal.

‘Eddie, Eddie, Eddie’ rung around the Emirates and his confidence would have been lifted by the goal and the support, but it wasn’t just the goal that was impressive from Nketiah. His willingness to do plenty of the dirty work Jesus does for Arsenal didn’t go unnoticed. His willingness to hold the ball up and play with his back to goal was superb, while his ability to bring his team-mates into the game would have delighted Arteta.

It’s only one step on what is still a long road for Nketiah and Arsenal, but there should now be no doubts that Nketiah has the ability to lead the line for the Gunners.

Arteta: I just gave Nketiah a big hug

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on Eddie Nketiah’s performance:

“I just gave him a big hug because he totally deserved that with the play he played.

“He showed his strength, quality and timing, the composure of the finish. It was an outstanding performance from him.

“He has been trying in the last few games and has the capacity to score. We see it every day in training and that will give him confidence.

He added: “He is a really confident boy but if he had any doubts, hopefully that can give him more confidence about what he is capable of doing.

“I think his performance was really good and on top of that he scored a great goal. Every striker needs a goal and for Eddie, and for the team, I think it is really important.”

Are West Ham in a fight against relegation?

West Ham boss David Moyes to Amazon Sport:

“I have been looking upwards, we have good players and ones who can compete right at the top. We need to start turning it into points and there have been others game where we should have taken more from them. Tonight I didn’t like the way we defended in the second half.”

On facing Brentford, Leeds, Wolves and Everton next: “A hugely important [run]. We have a good side and need to try picking up some points.”

West Ham captain Declan Rice:

“Nah. I don’t think it is. Every team has a blip but it is down to me as captain to keep pushing everyone and keep giving 100% on the pitch like everyone else to get the results. There are so many games to go, we still believe we are are a top team. We need to stop talking about it and need to show it.

“With the signings we have made, the quality is there. Now it is down to us to do it at both ends of the pitch.”

Opta stats: Arsenal comeback to stun West Ham again

• Arsenal have come from behind to beat West Ham eight times in the Premier League, more than they have against any other opponent.
• West Ham manager David Moyes has lost 15 Premier League away games against Arsenal, equalling Harry Redknapp for the most away defeats against a specific opponent in the competition (15 vs Man Utd).
• Arsenal have won 10 consecutive Premier League home games for the first time since April 2019, while this is the first time they’ve done so while scoring 2+ goals each time since November 2017.

What’s next?

Next up for Arsenal is a trip to Brighton on New Year’s Eve, which is live on Sky Sports; kick-off 5.30pm.

Meanwhile, West Ham host Brentford on Friday December 30; kick-off 7.45pm.