Arsenal came back ahead of Tottenham in the Champions League qualifier with a 2-1 win over West Ham.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners started less than an hour after Spurs climbed to a point above fourth in the Premier League with a 3-1 loss to Leicester City.
West Ham, like Leicester, made changes before the second leg of the European semi-final but gave Arsenal a solid test in a game that took little time to progress.
After waiting 38 minutes for the first try of the note, Rob Holding and Gabriel Magalhaes were not expected to score goals for Arsenal on either side of Jarrod Bowen’s equalizer.
Eddie Nketiah’s low effort from the edge of the box was deflected by Lukasz Fabianski seven minutes before the break, and the game came to life from then on. Arsenal were ahead of the result as Holding stood in front of Kurt Zouma to head home in the lower-left corner with his first Premier League goal.
However, West Ham are back, and after Aaron Ramsdale cleverly blocked Declan Rice’s ball, beaten by a deflected Bowen, the winger was given time and space to control and shoot inside the area.
But Arsenal were back nine minutes before half-time with Gabriel, one of their full-backs, selected by Gabriel Martinelli’s cross past Fabianski.
Nketiah was supposed to take the game away from West Ham but fired shots after a left-footed break at half-time, before the striker pulled Fabianski.
However, the visitors were not made to pay for those chances, holding on for a third consecutive victory that also saw them overtake Tottenham by two points.
