Arsenal stayed in control of their title destiny at West Ham, but victory came with concern after Ben White left the London Stadium with his knee in a brace and worries over Riccardo Calafiori.
Arsenal lost Ben White to a knee injury as the Gunners gave their entire fanbase a massive cardiac arrest against West Ham to keep themselves in control of their title destiny.
Arsenal started well against the Hammers but when Ben White went into a challenge and jarred his knee, everything changed.
Rather than bring on Cristhian Mosquera, Mikel Arteta tried to Pep-brain his way out of the situation by moving Declan Rice to right-back, bringing on Martin Zumbimendi to partner Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield.
It was an awful choice.
By half-time, Arteta knew he had made a mistake and seemed to compound it by bringing off Riccardo Calafiori, dropping Lewis-Skelly to left-back, robbing Arsenal of his dynamism in midfield while also removing Calafiori’s chaos and total control over Jarod Bowen.
After the game, however, Arteta said that Calafiori was injured, too. We should have known.
In the end, Arteta had to resort to removing Zubimendi, bringing on Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz, neither of whom look close to fully fit, but it changed the game.
The Arsenal captain, with his trademark calmness and great control, opened up the West Ham defence, allowing Leandro Trossard to find the back of the net with his first goal in an absolute age. Timing.
Odegaard fell to his knees as the ball hit the back of the net. We’ll leave the rest of the drama for other articles.
After the game, White was seen leaving the London Stadium with his knee in a brace, which would fit with the frustration on his face as he lay on the pitch and how he had to be helped around it when he was subbed off.
Speaking to the media, Arteta was asked about White. “We don’t know but it does not look good at all,” he said. “so he needs some further testing tomorrow probably and I know a bit more.”
About Calafiori, he said, “After half-time, we have to make another change with Richy,” confirming he was injured. “We have to wait and see with both of them.”