Arsenal win & move to brink of title after VAR rules out last-gasp West Ham equaliser

[p]Nuno Espirito Santo’s side could have been forgiven for any feelings of trepidation when they hosted an [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] team seemingly with the bit between their teeth in pursuit of a first title in 22 years.[/p][p]The Gunners came within inches of scoring inside the opening 10 minutes when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hermansen-mads/fq8hQjAg/"]Mads Hermansen[/a] tipped away [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/trossard-leandro/xUAbnjp2/"]Leandro Trossard[/a]’s header, before the Belgian’s second attempt cannoned off the post.[/p][p]Konstantinos Mavropanos then did well to block [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/calafiori-riccardo/CEwq7x7l/"]Riccardo Calafiori[/a]’s glancing header from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rice-declan/zkQ8Cm6n/"]Declan Rice[/a]’s free-kick, with the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-ham/Cxq57r8g/"]Hammers[/a] defence kept firmly on their toes.[/p][p]However, not all was going to plan for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arteta-mikel/lAbHYaQM/"]Mikel Arteta[/a]’s side after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/white-ben/pvGdJANj/"]Ben White[/a] was taken off injured, replaced by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zubimendi-martin/fNI6Gsdr/"]Martin Zubimendi[/a] following a challenge with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/summerville-crysencio/EaRET7t6/"]Crysencio Summerville[/a].[/p][p]And with Rice surprisingly shifted to right-back, the Hammers sensed an opportunity to strike first through Summerville, who surged forward before firing wide.[/p][p]The hosts ended the half encouragingly, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raya-david/nkVV0IXb/"]David Raya[/a] made a fine save to push away [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/castellanos-valentin/ET4rsqIP/"]Taty Castellanos[/a]’ header after the Argentine was superbly picked out by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wan-bissaka-aaron/faGmGOOh/"]Aaron Wan-Bissaka[/a] at the end of an absorbing first half.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="3b8d4b3c-9743-4e2e-a0ec-edc96f84bc5b" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="5b2c08ad-e728-45e3-8bc7-81b6c388b043" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p]Arteta made another tactical reshuffle ahead of the restart by introducing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mosquera-cristhian/4O15XViB/"]Cristhian Mosquera[/a] for Calafiori and allowing Rice to return to midfield, but that could not prevent the Gunners from making a sluggish start to the second half.[/p][p]The scrappy nature of proceedings definitely suited [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-united/ppjDR086/"]West Ham[/a] better, and substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pablo/WUmzSYj5/"]Pablo[/a] almost gave a huge boost to their survival aspirations when he prodded wide from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/malick-diouf/n1SNJhEe/"]El Hadji Malick Diouf[/a]’s enticing cross.[/p][p]Espírito Santo’s side had an even better opportunity to take the lead when Raya made a superb point-blank save to deny [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fernandes-mateus/rFdshPHI/"]Mateus Fernandes[/a], as Arsenal’s title hopes flashed before their eyes.[/p][p][b]That would prove to be a defining moment, as Trossard netted his first goal of the calendar year with a deflected close-range strike from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/odegaard-martin/ID32TGhp/"]Martin Odegaard[/a]’s cut-back, keeping the PL title within their clutches and opening the trap door a little bit further for West Ham.[/b][/p][embed guid="22396bca-75b3-4e62-9fcd-4e8b93703148" url="https://x.com/Arsenal/status/2053526103193530851?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]There was still time for some agonising late drama, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wilson-callum/YwKMvtoh/"]Callum Wilson[/a] fired home at the death to initially give the hosts a potentially crucial moment, but Pablo was penalised for a foul on Raya and Arsenal held on for three dramatic points.[/b][/p][p]It was a crushing blow for the Hammers, who remain a point adrift of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tottenham/UDg08Ohm/"]Tottenham[/a], having played a game more than their rivals in the fight for survival.[/p][p]Meanwhile, these three points for Arsenal cap off a wonderful week for the Gunners, whose dreams of a PL and UEFA Champions League double remain well within their grasp.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mavropanos-konstantinos/zBXgM0Xa/"]Konstantinos Mavropanos[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-ham/Cxq57r8g/"]West Ham[/a])[/b][/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/arsenal-hA1Zm19f/west-ham-Cxq57r8g/?mid=8Cxbx9Wh"]Catch up on all the match stats with Flashscore by clicking here[/a][/h2]