Arsenal 0-2 West Ham United: 

Arsenal fell to a frustrating defeat at the hands of West Ham on Thursday evening at a sodden Emirates. 

A controversial first half goal by Tomas Soucek put David Moyes side ahead, despite the ball appearing to cross the line in the build-up to the opener. 

Misery was compounded for Mikel Arteta's side when former Gunner Dino Mavropanos doubled the visitors lead after the interval.

The scoreline could have been worse at the end when a frustrated Declan Rice - losing to his former side for the second time in two months - gave away a late penalty. 

Despite David Raya saving the spot-kick Arsenal failed to make inroads at the top of the Premier League. 

Quick question: So, is it Moyes In or is it Moyes Out this week? pic.twitter.com/B23X2FJI6a

— Layth (@laythy29) December 28, 2023

Player Ratings:

David Raya: 5.5/10 - Failed to dominate opposition forays enough to spread confidence among his backline, nor to discourage attackers. Even a late penalty save could not redeem his performance 

Ben White: 5/10 - Benny Blanco not up to his usual high standards

William Saliba: 6/10 - A world class talent but another who failed to perform as well as his talents normally allow

Gabriel: 5/10 - A disappointing performance at the back. Beaten to the ball with West Ham's second goal when former Gunner Mavropanos' got his head to the ball first top power past Raya

Oleksandr Zinchenko: 5.5/10 - Enduring a poor run of form at the moment - unfortunately did nothing to dispel that fact against David Moyes side

Martin Odegaard: 6/10 - An underwhelming performance from the Gunners captain

Declan Rice: 7/10 - Must have hurt deeply to lose for the second time in two months to his former side. Arsenal's best player and would have brought the house down had his second half long-range effort gone in. Frustration made manifest when he gave away a late penalty 

Bukayo Saka: 6/10 - Not as influential as he would have liked on a frustrating evening for everyone in red and white

Gabriel Jesus: 5/10 - Doubts continue to grow over whether the former Manchester City attacker is the forward to bring the Premier League title back to North London after 19 long years. Should have scored with a second half header but his ill-directed effort flew over the bar when well-placed

Leandro Trossard: 6/10 - A good player but failed to break down an obdurate Irons backline before being subbed by ESR late on

Gabi Martinelli: 6/10 - Lively without threatening as much as required before being swapped with Eddie Nketiah

Substitutes:

Reiss Nelson: 5/10 - Replaced the underwhelming Zinchenko midway through the second half as Arsenal looked to claw back the two goal deficit

Eddie Nketiah: 5/10 - On for Martinelli in a double substitution with Nelson on 64 minutes but did little to prevent increasing discussion over the need for Arsenal to sign a proven goalscorer during the forthcoming January transfer window

Emile Smith Rowe: 5/10 - Came on for Trossard with 12 minutes remaining

All the billions of pounds sloshing around English football and still the authorities can’t even sort out a camera to tell whether a football has definitively crossed a white line. Or at least they can’t when Arsenal are involved at any rate….

— Layth (@laythy29) December 28, 2023