West Ham vs Arsenal LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction as Gabriel earns vital win
The Brazilian defender earned the win at the London Stadium after Jarrod Bowen cancelled out Rob Holding’s opener
Arsenal tightened their grip on fourth place in the Premier League after goals from centre-backs Rob Holding and Gabriel delivered a 2-1 victory over West Ham at the London Stadium.
The Gunners struck from corners in each half to secure a crucial three points in their race for Champions League qualification and for the time being hold off closest rivals Tottenham, who overcame Leicester 3-1 earlier in the day.
Bukayo Saka was an influential figure throughout and Arsenal would have won more comfortably had Eddie Nketiah not been so wasteful, but West Ham were magnificent given their Europa League semi-final commitments and shortage of defenders.
Star forward Michail Antonio only appeared as a second-half substitute after Thursday night’s 2-1 defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt and Declan Rice started even though the away leg is only four days away.
West Ham’s biggest problems were in defence, however, where injury and suspension left Kurt Zouma as the only fit centre-back and at times even he appeared to still be hampered by his recent ankle injury.
But they emptied the tanks and took the game to their London rivals for long spells, looking the stronger side and equalising through Jarrod Bowen before eventually falling to a defeat that mathematicaly ends their own designs on fourth place.
For all the demands of their European campaign, West Ham started brightly and Aaron Ramsdale needed to act decisively to deal with an inswinging corner by Bowen.
Saka was determined to make something happen for Arsenal during a promising attack that eventually came to a halt.
West Ham were on top but there were few thrills at either end and when Holding inexplicably passed the ball into touch it summed up a lifeless opening spell.
When action did occasionally break out it took place at Arsenal’s end and in the 30th minute it needed a determined block from Holding to deny Manuel Lanzini from close range after Vladimir Coufal’s pass had deflected off Nuno Tavares.
Rice shot straight into the arms of Ramsdale but soon after it became the Gunners’ turn to threaten, with Nketiah the catalyst as they crept ahead against the run of play.
Nketiah threaded his way into the box to force a save from Lukasz Fabianski and from the ensuing corner Saka found Holding, who nodded home his first Premier League goal.
Rice was at the heart of West Ham’s response that meant they entered half-time all square as he forced a smart save from Ramsdale before launching the move that led to their equaliser.
A long pass into the box found Coufal and the Czech defender controlled the ball brilliantly before picking out Bowen, whose shot deflected off Gabriel and into the net.
The second half started at a frantic pace as Bowen was shown a yellow card for simulation as he avoided Ramsdale’s lunge, amid a breathless spell for West Ham that ended abruptly when Arsenal added a second.
Once again they pounced from a corner as the ball found Gabriel Martinelli, who crossed to his unmarked namesake and fellow Brazilian for a diving header that beat Fabianski at the far post.
A flare hurled from the away fans’ section was cleared off the pitch and play resumed with Nketiah failing to make the most of a strong chance as Arsenal broke incisively.
Nketiah’s wasteful afternoon continued as he sent his best opportunity yet wide of the right post, but the visitors had already done enough for the win in spite of West Ham’s late endeavour.
Team news for Tottenham vs Leicester
Elsewhere, Tottenham look to get their top four challenge back on track at home to Leicester.
Here is the team news for that one.
Tottenham XI: Lloris, Romero, Dier, Davies, Emerson Royal, Bentacour, Hojbjerg, Sessegnon, Lucas Moura, Kane, Son Heung-min.
Leicester XI: Schmeichel, Castagne, Amartey, Soyuncu, Thomas, Mendy, Soumaré, Albrighton, Iheanacho, Pérez, Daka.
Everton vs Chelsea
What a seismic day this could be in the future of Everton Football Club. A defeat this afternoon would make them the overwhelming favourites to go down with just five Premier League matches remaining.
The atmosphere is building outside the stadium.
Team news
And here is Chelsea’s starting line-up for today’s game.
Chelsea team to play Everton: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger, James, Alonso; Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek; Mount, Havertz, Werner.
Subs: Kepa, Chalobah, Sarr, Kovacic, Saul, Kenedy, Pulisic, Ziyech, Lukaku.
Team news
Here is Everton’s starting XI today then.
Everton team to play Chelsea: Pickford; Coleman, Holgate, Mina, Mykolenko; Delph, Doucoure, Iwobi, Gray, Gordon; Richarlison.
Subs: Begovic, Kenny, Keane, Allan, Calvert-Lewin, Davies, Branthwaite, Rondon, Dele.
Everton vs Chelsea
Everton may be in the relegation zone but their fans are still right behind the team ahead of the visit of Chelsea. Incredible support before the match at Goodison Park.
Tuchel looking forward to first meeting with Lampard
Thomas Tuchel has revealed Sunday’s Goodison Park clash with Everton will be his first in-person meeting with Frank Lampard.
Tuchel’s Chelsea predecessor Lampard sent the German coach a good luck message when the former Paris St Germain boss took the Stamford Bridge helm in January 2021.
“He sent me a very kind, respectful message after I took over at Chelsea that meant a lot,” said Tuchel, of Lampard.
“I was a huge fan of him as a player and he is and will remain a legend at our club and this is a given.
Chelsea boss Tuchel looking forward to first meeting with Lampard
Tuchel took over at Stamford Bridge from Lampard, now in charge at Everton, in January 2021.
Lampard vows to stay at Everton even if club is relegated from Premier League
Frank Lampard is determined to stay at Everton, even if they are relegated to the Championship, and has vowed to do everything in his power to take them back to where he believes they belong.
Everton have been ever-presents in the top flight since 1951 but are threatened with a first demotion in 71 years after dropping into the bottom three of the Premier League on Sunday.
They could be five points from safety before Lampard, who signed a two-and-a-half year contract when he was appointed in January, faces his former club Chelsea on Sunday.
But if they do go down, he wants to remain at Goodison Park and try and win promotion next season.
Frank Lampard vows to stay at Everton even if club is relegated
Lampard joined on a two-and-a-half-year deal in January, and his side enter the weekend in the bottom three
Everton vs Chelsea: Odds and prediction
Odds
Everton: 4/1
Draw: 13/5
Chelsea: 3/4
Prediction
Everton are facing Chelsea at a good time and could get a positive result in front of their home fans. Everton 1-1 Chelsea
Everton vs Chelsea: Team news and predicted line-ups
Everton have a number of injury doubts, with Donny van de Beek, Andre Gomes, and Ben Godfrey all unavailable, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Yerry Mina are set to return to the squad.
Chelsea will be without Mateo Kovacic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell. Andreas Christensen is a doubt after he missed successive games due to a stomach issue.
Predicted line-ups
Everton: Pickford; Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Mykolenko; Iwobi, Allan, Doucoure, Gray; Richarlison, Gordon
Chelsea: Mendy; Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger; James, Loftus-Cheek, Kante, Alonso; Mount, Ziyech; Lukaku
Good afternoon
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of this afternoon’s Premier League football, starting at Goodison Park as Everton host Chelsea and Frank Lampard faces his former side. Burnley’s dramatic comeback at Watford yesterday plunged Everton in deeper relegation trouble and has left Lampard’s team five points adrift of safety, so a first meeting with Chelsea as a manager therefore comes at a crucial time for the former Blues midfielder.
Everton have been relying on home form at Goodison Park and have picked up seven points from their last three matches in front of their own fans. They welcome a Chelsea side who are certain to finish third, but manager Thomas Tuchel will be demanding improvements from his side after they were wasteful in front of goal in Thursday’s 1-1 draw at Manchester United.
This afternoon’s match is also the first encounter between Lampard and Tuchel, the man who replaced him at Stamford Bridge when he was sacked as Chelsea manager after just 18 months last January. Defeat would be a bitter blow for Everton, who are running out of time to salvage their Premier League status. Follow live coverage of Everton vs Chelsea below, as well as goal updates from Tottenham vs Leicester.
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