David Moyes has done this job before so he knows how life can be as a West Ham manager. And you have to learn to take the vagaries of triumph and disaster with a degree of equanimity. For even when your side produces a superb performance of no little tactical acumen with a dash of spirited determination, life still finds a way to kick you in the teeth.
By contrast, Mikel Arteta seems to have the Midas Touch. Two trophies collected within his first 10 months of management and then an evening like this: in a game in which Arsenal were frankly bossed for long periods and after a second half in which West Ham made all the running, Arsenal collected all the points.
It isn’t luck. Arteta has more than one way of playing and counter attack is crucial to this team. So, you can never dismiss Arsenal. Danger always lurks, no matter how pallid they appear. Even when they seem seemingly hibernated in defensive mode, they can spring into life and attack with incision and verve.
So it was here. Having stood firm against a West Ham second half assault, Bukayo Saka strode forward on 85 minutes. There seemed little danger, but his pass found the clever run of Dani Ceballos and suddenly, despite all their efforts, West ham were exposed.
For substitute Eddie Nketiah had made a similar run and all Ceballos had to do was roll the ball across to finish. It was cruel on West Ham. Moyes, preparing to make a change designed to win the game, could only look on in despair. Such is the fate of the West Ham manager.
‘We should have won’ said Moyes and no-one could disagree. ‘We should have at least got a point,’ Of course, there was the flat footedness of his defenders in the two crucial instances, when they had stood firm for so long, so it wasn’t entirely a travesty.
‘Some players did unbelievable job, but turning off last few minutes is criminal, went on Moyes. But there was also the strange case of the non-intervention of the VAR, when Gabriel appeared to handball in the first half, so they could be justified in feeling hard done by.
For Arsenal and Arteta this was a triumph of spirit rather than tactical or technical brilliance. Afterwards the Arsenal manager, a disciple of Pep Guardiola, spoke of seeking the balance between those attributes. ‘We have to keep alive at times,’ he said. ‘I had the sense at 65 minutes we were dipping, giving up, we were suffering, because it was hard, I tried to lift them up and suddenly they changed and were a different team.’
Arteta also bemoaned the opening quarter, when West Ham were dominant and the Arsenal manager was incredulous how much his team gave the ball away. Asked whether this was the poorest Aresnal have been under his charge, he said: ‘Yes, certainly in the first 15 minutes. Which was strange because in training we were saying this week the quality has been better than ever.
The second half, was as good as a West Ham performance gets – until the denouement. Their control of the game was undeniable and the chances plentiful. There was Arthur Masuka’s sweeping cross on 53 minutes to the feet of Antonio. Six yards out, the centre forward couldn’t move his feet quick enough, the ball deflected off him allowing Leno to make the vital save.
And on the hour, it was a Declan Rice free kick, which Bowen nodded down for Soucek. He slightly mis-hit his shot but, even so, Gabriel had to make a desperate clearance. There was a growing confidence about West Ham
There was the Massuaka cross on 66 minutes for which Antonio jumped, headed and saw the ball rebound firmly off the bar. Arsenal were scrambling the ball away and West Ham probing with increasing ferocity.
Soucek was outstanding midfield, undiminished by a clash of heads with Grant Xhaka, and Bowen relentless in his harrying of Kolasinac and Saka. Bowen raced away and tried a shot on 70 minutes, when he might have slid Antonio in. Soucek drove the rebound wide. The narrative arc was clear: this was West Ham’s game to win. So punchline was inevitable.
