Arsenal continued their recent good form at Upton Park by recording a 3-1 victory over West Ham United this evening.
The Gunners did initially fall behind courtesy of a strike from Mohamed Diame. However, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla all struck the back of the net to secure the points for Arsene Wenger's side against their London rivals.
Here, Sports Mole decides whether Arsenal deserved the win or whether West Ham did enough to earn a share of the spoils.
Match statistics
West Ham
Shots: 7
On Target: 3
Possession: 40%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 12
Arsenal
Shots: 20
On Target: 14
Possession: 60%
Corners: 16
Fouls: 7
Was the result fair?
Some ardent West Ham fans may argue that they created enough chances to take something from this game and there is no getting away from the fact that they did spurn a couple of presentable chances. However, football is all about converting your opportunities and Arsenal did just that. They also played the better football and deserved the three points.
West Ham's performance
West Ham did what West Ham do very well. They got the ball up to Andy Carroll, who caused a number of problems. You can still see that he is relatively new to the club though and that his teammates need a little more time to adapt to his movement and flick-ons. There was also very little that could be done for any of Arsenal's goals.
Arsenal's performance
Wenger is bound to be pleased with the character that his side showed to falling behind. It took them a while to get going in the second half, but when they did they looked a really good side. For different reasons all three of the goals they scored were fantastic.
Referee's performance
Phil Dowd is a referee that seems to split opinions and you can see why here. He should have sent Diame off for a second bookable offence and failed to award Arsenal a stonewall penalty/free-kick on the edge of the West Ham box. A mixed day would sum up his performance nicely.
Sports Mole's man of the match
The likes of Cazorla and Walcott will grab the headlines from this one and quite rightly but we're going to give this award to Giroud. The Frenchman has had a tough time since moving to Arsenal but he put in a really good performance. Not only did he notch up his first Premier League goal, he showed great movement throughout and set up Walcott for Arsenal's second of the night.
Biggest gaffe
This has to go to the match official for not sending off Diame. We don't like to see players being dismissed, but having been booked for over celebrating, the midfielder hauled down Mikel Arteta right in front of Dowd. A second booking appeared to be the only outcome but for some reason Dowd resisted.
What's next?
West Ham: Fellow promoted side Southampton are next up for the Hammers. It's a game that both sides will be thinking that they can win.
Arsenal: After the international break Arsenal travel to struggling Norwich. If football was played on paper then there would only be one winner. Luckily for Norwich it's not!
Liam Apicella
