PREMIER League, MAY 10 2026
Trossard (83)
Arsenal kept the destination of the Premier League title in their hands with this nail-biting win at relegation-threatened West Ham. With time running out and a draw looking increasingly likely, substitute Leandro Trossard broke the deadlock to give the Gunners a crucial lead. The goal came just minutes after David Raya had saved from a clean-through Mateus Fernandes at the other end, in a moment that could yet have a huge bearing at both ends of the table. And if Arsenal needed any further conviction that they are set to end a 22-year wait for the title, a Callum Wilson goal was ruled out in added time after a lengthy review by the officials, dealing a blow to West Ham’s chances of survival.
How the managers saw it
“We started the game slowly, but then we changed the game around after 20 minutes,” said Nuno Espírito Santo. “We changed it completely in our way, we were really working hard, pressing, dominating, creating problems. I have nothing [bad] to say about the performance, the character, the energy that we put in, but it was a game that we needed to win and we lost it.”
“We started the game so well, we created three big chances to go in front and we didn’t manage to do that,” said Mikel Arteta. “I said at half-time to the boys, we’re really going to go for it, so be ready because if the game is not panning out in the manner that we have to, we’re going to have to change it. And the finishers made a difference. Martin [Ødegaard] comes in and had an incredible impact in the game. An action that leaves Leo in a top position to score the goal.”
Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have picked out the tactical highlights from a potentially pivotal game in the 2025/26 Premier League season.
14152512182829711201426334149710191410/3
SHOTS / ON TARGET
16/3
40%
POSSESSION
60%
17
ATTACKS INTO AREA
25
1.75
EXPECTED GOALS (XG)
1.57
Arsenal freeing the inside left
From their initial 4-2-3-1, with the ball Arsenal switched to a back three and secured a large share of possession early on. Declan Rice moved wider ahead of the back line, with Eberechi Eze also shifting slightly across to Arsenal’s right. They helped to pull West Ham’s two central midfielders across, freeing the centre more for Myles Lewis-Skelly to receive and for Arsenal to progress through the middle. With Riccardo Calafiori moving into midfield from left-back – creating Arsenal’s back three – they also took advantage of space created in the left inside channel (below).
Despite West Ham trying to defend via a compact 5-3-2 block, Arsenal’s movement on the right continued to free their left inside channel, as the away side easily accessed the centre. As such, Calafiori was often best positioned for Arsenal’s early chances. The left-back surged into space to attack around Viktor Gyökeres and inside of Trossard, often drawing out West Ham’s wide centre-backs in the process. Calafiori’s forward runs also gave Jarrod Bowen a significant problem as he was often forced to recover all the way back (below), nullifying his counter-attacking potential.
Ben White went off injured in the 28th minute – replaced by Martín Zubimendi – with Arteta getting Rice to fill in at right-back. Arsenal tried to continue their movements on this side, with Zubimendi initially recreating Rice’s wide movements from midfield. This then changed to Rice moving forward from right-back, Lewis-Skelly dropping into the back line to replace him, and Zubimendi as the single pivot. But the result was that Arsenal were less able to manipulate West Ham’s block, as Crysencio Summerville simply tracked Rice’s forward movements. As a result West Ham’s central midfielders were no longer dragged wide and were thus better positioned to protect the centre. Calafiori stopped having joy on the blindside of Bowen, so Arsenal linked off Gyökeres more. But the forward was up against three centre-backs (below), which was a challenge.
Changed attacking shape
Arteta reverted to a more traditional attacking shape for the second half. Cristhian Mosquera replaced Calafiori and played at right-back, with Lewis-Skelly moving to left-back – both supported wingers Trossard and Bukayo Saka. Arsenal attempted to double up on West Ham’s wing-backs, with more wide attacks and crosses once in the final third. West Ham dropped into a lower block for longer spells, as Arsenal’s midfield of Rice, Eze and Zubimendi saw plenty of the ball and looked to connect the wide areas where possible. West Ham’s wide centre-backs occasionally jumped out to support the wing-backs’ defending, allowing Gyökeres to make runs across to support the wide attacks (below).
With Arsenal full-backs much higher on average, wide gaps became available for West Ham to counter into. Particularly so down Arsenal’s right, where Mosquera was advanced and El Hadji Malick Diouf repeatedly pushed forward to exploit in behind (below). However, West Ham had so many players defending in their low block that they often had few attacking options on the counter, with centre-forward Pablo often isolated. Their big chance came in the 77th minute, after a spell of pressure in which they had penned Arsenal in and had players in more advanced positions. After Arsenal had cleared a free-kick, Fernandes played back to Mads Hermansen before racing forwards to win a second ball and play a one-two with Pablo, only to be denied by Raya.
Ten minutes before Fernandes’ chance, Arteta had added Kai Havertz (for Zubimendi) and Martin Ødegaard (for Eze) to Arsenal’s attacking play. The latter proved influential on their right side, drifting underneath in support of Mosquera’s advances, with Noni Madueke (on for Saka after 80 minutes) wide right against Diouf. Havertz as the highest midfielder added numbers to Arsenal’s right (below), giving them support and combinations to penetrate in behind West Ham’s back line. With much less play coming down Arsenal’s left, Trossard narrowed, essentially replacing Havertz as he neared the box. Ødegaard’s combinations were Arsenal’s biggest attacking outlet and created the all-important goal for Trossard.
Nuno responded by bringing on striker Wilson for centre-back Axel Disasi, and the substitute came close to scoring from more direct West Ham play, only for Gabriel to block his goal-bound shot. From the subsequent corner, Wilson did get the ball over the line, but his effort was disallowed following a VAR review that penalised Pablo for his contact with Raya.
The result left Arsenal needing two wins from their remaining two games to be certain of the Premier League title. West Ham are one point and a 12-goal swing from safety, having played a game more than fellow relegation candidates Tottenham.
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