Arsenal win on Mikel Arteta’s 300th match in charge as West Ham prove no match

By George Sessions, PA

Mikel Arteta enjoyed a triumphant 300th match in charge of Arsenal after goals by Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka clinched a 2-0 home win over West Ham.

The Hammers had claimed all three points on their last two visits to Emirates Stadium to dent the Gunners’ title bids, but their old captain Rice helped ensure it was a different story this time.

Rice broke the deadlock in the 38th-minute with a powerful finish before Saka’s penalty after 67 minutes wrapped up a routine victory for the Gunners.

It was not a perfect afternoon for Arteta with captain Martin Odegaard forced off with an injury and Viktor Gyorekes unable to score to extend his goal drought to six matches going into the October international break.

New West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has far more problems, though, with the east London side firmly in the relegation zone after a fifth Premier League loss of the campaign.

After recent criticism over a failure to take the handbrake off, Arteta went bold in his milestone match with a midfield trio of Odegaard, Rice and Eberechi Eze picked.

West Ham almost immediately spoiled the occasion, but Niclas Fullkrug headed wide from a corner inside 60 seconds.

A pattern quickly emerged with Gunners full-back Jurrien Timber denied soon after before Eze inexplicably fired over in the 13th-minute.

Saka’s cut-back for Gyorekes was pushed out by Alphonse Areola and even though Eze had a crowd of bodies on the line, the £65million attacker should have scored but smashed off target.

Arteta’s attack-minded midfield did not make it to the half an hour mark, however, as Odegaard limped off in the 29th-minute.

Arsenal captain Odegaard had gone down twice earlier in the game and despite treatment on his left leg, his injury-hit campaign took another turn for the worst.

Saka had a goal ruled out for offside before Odegaard’s replacement Martin Zubimendi was involved in the hosts’ opener.

Zubimendi produced an inch-perfect pass into Eze and although his powerful snapshot was parried by Areola, Rice fired into the roof of the net after 38 minutes.

The former West Ham captain kept his celebration low-key but did give a telling stare in the direction of the away end as he accepted the acclaim of his team-mates.

It remained 1-0 until half-time although only after Riccardo Calafiori sent a 20-yard stoppage-time strike against the post which West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos cleared after it hit goalkeeper Areola.

Mavropanos survived half-hearted penalty appeals after the break before Rice burst forward but could not find Gyokeres in the area with his cross.

Nuno made his first change after an hour with young pair Freddie Potts and Callum Marshall introduced, but a second goal for Arsenal arrived seven minutes later.

El Hadji Malick Diouf was at fault as he bundled over Timber for a spot-kick and despite the challenging starting outside the area, the original decision of referee John Brooks stood and Saka tucked away from 12-yards.

Stand-in captain Saka took responsibility ahead of Gyokeres, who scored a penalty in the thrashing of Leeds, but had struggled to score since a big-money move from Sporting Lisbon in July.

Gyokeres stayed on and while no goal followed, Arteta still toasted his 300th match as Arsenal boss with three points.