Arsenal’s Premier League title aspirations took a major hit as the 10-man Gunners suffered a 1-0 home defeat to struggling West Ham on Saturday.
Jarrod Bowen netted the only goal just before half-time, capitalising on a pinpoint cross from Aaron Wan-Bissaka to stun the hosts.
Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red card in the second half only deepened Arsenal’s misery, leaving them unable to mount a comeback.
The defeat leaves Mikel Arteta’s side still eight points behind league leaders Liverpool, who could extend their advantage to 11 points when they face Manchester City on Sunday.
Despite suffering from an injury crisis that has sidelined key attackers like Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, and Gabriel Martinelli, Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard insisted they had enough firepower to get a result.
“We are missing players, but we have to focus on the ones available. We had more than enough quality to do better than what we did today,” Ødegaard said.
West Ham, who had won just one of their last six games under Graham Potter, defended resolutely and took their chance through Bowen’s 50th Premier League goal.
“Everyone wrote us off, but we never wrote ourselves off because we know we can win any football game,” Bowen said post-match.
Arsenal’s struggles deepened in the 73rd minute when Lewis-Skelly was sent off after a VAR review upgraded his yellow card to red for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity to Mohammed Kudus.
West Ham nearly doubled their lead, but David Raya made crucial saves to deny Kudus and Evan Ferguson late on.
However, Arsenal’s lack of attacking threat proved costly, as they failed to break down the Hammers’ defence. The result could prove to be a decisive moment in their pursuit of a first league title since 2004.
