Arsenal traveled to West Ham's Olympic stadium with the determination to win. A coincidence is that the home team also had a similar goal, so fans anticipated the scenario that this would be a tense match. What happened after that was consistent with all pre-match predictions, even more dramatic.
The tension was pushed to a climax in the final minutes of the match. Callum Wilson put the ball into Arsenal's net. The referee initially recognized the goal, but after listening to comments from the VAR room, Mr. Chris Kavanagh decided to cancel it because goalkeeper David Raya of the away team was fouled by 2 West Ham players in an aerial duel.
The final result, Arsenal won a thrilling 1-0 victory and extended the gap with Man City to 5 points. Pep's team still has a rescheduled match with Crystal Palace this week, but even if they win that match, Man City is still 2 points behind their opponent in the context that the Premier League only has 2 more rounds left.
The scorer for Arsenal in the recent victory was Leandro Trossard. In the context of Viktor Gyokeres almost completely "out of power" at the Olympic stadium, Trossard scored a goal in the turning point match for Arsenal's championship. This is the first goal of the Belgian striker after 25 recent matches without scoring.
In front of Arsenal, there are only 2 opponents who have run out of targets in the Premier League. Burnley has held the relegation ticket from previous rounds, while all of Crystal Palace's minds are now focused on the Conference League final with Rayo Vallecano. This is not a difficult challenge for Mikel Arteta's team and right now, they have started thinking about the championship.
Besides the situation where West Ham was denied a goal by VAR, the moment David Raya made a miraculous save was also mentioned a lot after the match. Mateus Fernandes was passed the ball favorably by Pablo, putting the Portuguese midfielder in a one-on-one situation very close to Arsenal's goal. It is not understood that in some miraculous way, the ball did not roll into the net.
When Fernandes faced Raya, the entire Olympic stadium stands seemed to hold their breath, feeling that time had stopped at that moment. It was so dramatic because whether or not there was a goal would determine the fate of both teams this season.
David Raya's miraculous save at that moment reminded fans of the 2022 World Cup final. When the score was 3-3 between France and Argentina, Randal Kolo Muani had a close-range one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Muani's shot was very powerful and had a rather dangerous trajectory, but with a save movement quite similar to Raya's, Martinez used his foot to save Argentina from a clear goal conceded.
That moment created a great premise to help Albiceleste win the world championship for the 3rd time in history, followed by the 8th Ballon d'Or in Lionel Messi's career. Conversely, if Kolo Muani scored, the winner of the Ballon d'Or would be Kylian Mbappe and France would win the world championship for the 3rd time in history.
For the 3rd consecutive season winning the Premier League Golden Glove, David Raya once again shows why he is the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment. Noble awards for individuals such as the Golden Ball (France Football) or The Best (FIFA) should be changed to create more opportunities for goalkeepers to be honored after such historic matches.
If they draw with West Ham, Arsenal will lose the championship race advantage to Man City, even if they lose, it will be much worse. They won away from home, against an opponent at the brink of death and determined to win 3 points at all costs. This match is considered even more dramatic than the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, when Arsenal defeated Atletico Madrid to advance to the final.
Arsenal has taken the upper hand in the championship race, while West Ham no longer has the right to decide in the relegation race with Tottenham. Spurs currently have 37 points, 1 point more than The Hammers but have played 1 match less.
If Roberto De Zerbi's team wins against Leeds tonight, the gap between the two teams will be 4 points, more than 1 win. Right now, West Ham fans are giving a lot of encouragement to Leeds, perhaps also like Pep Guardiola cheering for West Ham before the match against Arsenal.
