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A late strike from Leandro Trossard helped Arsenal's Premier League hopes massively as they defeated West Ham United 1-0 to stay five points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
The Sunday's win did not come without some drama as the ruling out of Callum Wilson's 95th-minute equaliser was ruled out because of a foul on the Gunners' goalie David Raya, as per Sky Sports. The VAR spotted West Ham's Pablo's arm across Raya's neck as the latter fumbled the initial delivery into the box. The referee, Chris Kavanagh, was sent to the monitor by VAR Darren England, and the goal was disallowed. After a total of 17 replays of the incident, the referee Kavanagh made his final decision, and the home crowd erupted. Had the goal stood and the match ended at 1-1, Arsenal's lead over City would have been cut short to three points, giving the multi-time champions a sniff at another Premier League title if they win their next game against Crystal Palace on Wednesday. With a relegated Burnley clash visiting Arsenal's home turf, and the Gunners travelling to Crystal Palace for their last fixture, the Gunners look all but set for their first Premier League title in 22 years. But other than that, it was tricky out there for the Gunners for the first 83 minutes. They started off on a dominating note, but Trossard hit the bar twice from the same corner, and Riccardo Calafiori came close to scoring. But an injury to Ben White threatened Arsenal's control over the game. With Mikel Arteta getting Martin Zubimendi as a substitute and moving Declan Rice to right-back, West Ham started to look a little threatening. Arteta reversed his decision at half time, bringing Declan back into the midfield and bringing Cristhian Mosquera. Then, Zubimendi was taken off the field midway through the second half, giving West Ham some more confidence. While Arsenal kept finding shots at goal, their overall display was messy, and Mateus Fernandes almost scored one for West Ham, before Raya produced a sensational close-range stop. Then, in the 83rd minute, Trossard produced perhaps the most important goal of his career. With Martin Odegaard inside the penalty area, he fed Trossard, who wasted no time in producing a strong finish past the West Ham goalie. Following the match, Arteta said, as quoted by Sky Sports, that there are "still two games to play" and spoke on the difficulties of a referee's job after Callum's equaliser was ruled out. "Probably today I have realised how difficult and how big the referee's job is. Because you are talking about a moment that can decide the history, the course, of two massive clubs that are fighting for their lives to achieve their objectives. And the pressure is huge," he said. "There are still two games to play. We came to win the game today; somehow, you have to get rewarded. You have to have the ability to win in all types of contexts. We have shown that. The only thing that matters is now, the present. Today, we have done it. There are two more to go," he signed off. (ANI)
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