This Saturday, for the Premier League, Arsenal faced West Ham at home and got a simple 1-0 victory. The only goal of the match was scored by the French Alexandre Lacazette.

The visitors were the ones who started better. Right in the first minute of the game, the striker Jarrod Bower attempted from outside the box and forced goalkeeper Bernd Leno to stretch himself and do enough to make the ball hit the post.

The Gunners woke up after that and went forward, having a good chance with German Mesut Ozil, who was blocked by the defense, and another with Sokratis, who hit the bar with a powerful header.

Being at home and going to the second half without goals, Arsenal had to take control of the match. They were able to have more ball possession and created more chances, however, the Hammers were the ones threatening. Leno was the only reason why West Ham didn’t score. With that, manager Mikel Arteta had to do something. At the 59th minute, he brought in Lacazette and the Frenchman was the one to break the deadlock.

At the 78th minute, Ozil got the rebound from Aubameyang’s shot and assisted Lacazette, who hit to the back of the net from inside the six-yard box. At the time, the referee disallowed the goal because of an offside position, however, after VAR checked the play, the goal was confirmed and the 3 points went to Arsenal.

With the victory, the Gunners went to the 9th position, with 40 points. They are still fighting for a place in next year’s Europa League. West Ham, on the other hand, remain in 16th place, with 27 points, the same points as both 17th and 18th place. They are outside the relegation zone because of the goal difference.

After being eliminated from Europa League, Arsenal now focuses on the Premier League. Their next match will be on Wednesday, against Manchester City, at the Etihad Stadium. West Ham will play only on Sunday when they welcome Wolverhampton.