A clash of styles awaits as Arsenal travel to Cardiff City next weekend, with West Ham hosting Wolves on the back of a another all-London affair against AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Cup.
Unai Emery claimed his first win in charge of Arsenal as Issa Diop’s own goal and a stoppage-time Danny Welbeck strike secured a 3-1 Premier League victory over West Ham at Emirates Stadium.
Marko Arnautovic gave the visitors a 25th-minute lead, with Nacho Monreal restoring parity five minutes later.
An entertaining and error-strewn contest continued to flow from end to end but an injury to Arnautovic robbed West Ham of their prime attacking threat before Diop erred.
Welbeck came off the bench to gleefully blast in from close range, ensuring Manuel Pellegrini’s fledgling West Ham tenure stands at three defeats out of three.
Arnautovic asked constant questions of Arsenal’s high and shaky backline and had already thrashed into the side netting before he exchanged passes with Felipe Anderson to arrow a 20-yard drive into the bottom corner.
Monreal made light of an earlier knock to slam home the equaliser when West Ham failed to clear Hector Bellerin’s cross.
Bellerin’s mistakes at the other end remained a problem, with Sokratis Papastathopoulos forced into a desperate block from Felipe Anderson before the Spain full-back played Robert Snodgrass onside to shoot too close to Petr Cech.
Cech stood firm to thwart Arnautovic in the 55th minute and apparent knee injury he sustained during that attack proved pivotal.
Diop allowed Alexandre Lacazette too much room to turn and shoot, with ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski beating the shot away, and the 21-year-old centre-back was the architect of his own misery 20 minutes from time.
A miscued clearance spiralled up in the air and Aaron Ramsey nodded down for Lacazette to drive into the goalmouth, with Diop only able to divert into his own net.
Felipe Anderson continued to probe, flashing agonisingly across the face of goal in injury time, meaning Arsenal nerves only settled when Welbeck swivelled to dispatch Bellerin’s pass.
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