EPL: Shock 2-0 home loss for Arsenal

LONDON, England (AP):

Arsenal lost at home for the first time since May as a 2-0 defeat to West Ham cost Mikel Arteta’s team the chance to return to the top of the English Premier League (EPL) yesterday.

Goals by Tomas Soucek in the 13th minute and former Arsenal player Konstantinos Mavropanos in the 55th – combined with a stout defensive display – gave West Ham a surprising win at Emirates Stadium and continued a midseason blip by the Gunners.

That is just one win in their last four league matches for Arsenal, who were in first place for Christmas and need to beat Fulham away on Sunday to be in that position heading into 2024. Arsenal are currently in second place and two points behind Liverpool, who do not play again until New Year’s Day.

It could have been an even bigger win for West Ham, but Said Benrahma had a penalty saved by Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

There was some controversy over the first goal, with cameras not showing definitively if the ball was out of play when Jarrod Bowen turned it back into the area for Soucek to force home. Bowen’s leg blocked the best sight of whether any of the ball was in play, and the referee stayed with the onfield decision of giving the goal.

A similar situation occurred with Arsenal at Newcastle, who scored the only goal of their game at St James’ Park on November 4 amid debate over whether the ball was in play as a cross came in for Anthony Gordon’s strike.

Bukayo Saka hit the post for Arsenal, but the home side lacked their usual energy in attack and conceded again when James Ward-Prowse’s corner was flicked home off the underside of the crossbar by Mavropanos, whose celebration was muted because of his previous links to Arsenal.

Arsenal last lost at home in mid-May to Brighton, a defeat that virtually ensured the title last season would be heading to Manchester City and not the Gunners.

West Ham jumped to sixth place, above Manchester United.

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur’s top-four credentials were damaged by a miserable performance in a 4-2 loss at Brighton.

Late goals for Tottenham by Alejo Véliz and Ben Davies gave the score a respectable look, but the visitors were outplayed at Amex Stadium by a Brighton team missing up to 10 players through injury.

Jack Hinshelwood powered a shot into the roof of the net in the 11th minute, and Joao Pedro converted a penalty in the 23rd after Dejan Kulusevski pulled back Danny Welbeck in the area. Pedro scored another penalty in the 75th minute while defender Pervis Estupian was also on target for Brighton.