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90+1 min Trossard is booked for delaying a West Ham free-kick. The hell he’ll care!
90 min There will be six minutes of added time.
90 min Mavropanos allows Arsenal to waste 30 seconds with a needless foul on Gyokeres. West Ham’s heads have gone.
89 min Saliba is booked for fouling somebody on the halfway line. West Ham are running out of time to equalise.
88 min A member of the West Ham coaching staff has been sent off by Chris Kavanagh, presumably for inappropriate use of the mouth.
86 min There’s a bit of a row between Madueke and Pablo, who wasn’t happy when Madueke deliberately kicked the ball at a West Ham player with a view to it ricocheting out for an Arsenal throw-in. Not sure why – don’t players do that all the time?
Moments later, Todibo, who has form for loss of noggin, growls in the direction of Gyokeres.
85 min: West Ham substitution Axel Disasi is replaced by Callum Wilson.
Myles Lewis-Skelly ushers the ball out for a goalkick and roars with delight.
Arsenal could so easily have gone a goal down. Now, three minutes later, they’re in front! Odegaard, so good in tight spaces, combined neatly with Rice on the edge of the area and pushed the ball back to Trossard. His first-time shot from 15 yards took a deflection off the lunging Soucek and zipped past Hermansen at the near post.
GOAL! West Ham 0-1 Arsenal (Trossard 83)
Leandro Trossard has scored the biggest goal of his life!
81 min Replays confirm that, whether Fernandes should have scored or not, it was a sesnsational save by Raya. Fernandes tried to give him the eyes and sweep the ball past him at the near post; Raya threw out his right leg and saved it with his thigh.
80 min: Arsenal substitution Mosquera is booked for a foul. Noni Madueke comes on for Bukayo Saka.
78 min: Huge save by Raya!
Fernandes collects a loose ball on the edge of the area, plays a slick one-two with Pablo and runs through on goal. And time. Stands. Still before Fernandes sweeps a shot from five yards that is smothered heroically by Raya.
Fernandes should probably have scored – he was almost moving too fast and got too close to Raya before he took the shot.
77 min Saka, who has had a very quiet game so far, is booked for a foul on Summerville.
76 min “This is just torture for Arsenal fans – the equivalent of the medieval rack,” says Charles Antaki. Every minute is another ratchet up, and even the substitutions put a bit more strain on the system. Something may crack, but not in a happy way.”
I say!
75 min Bowen gets to the byline and spanks a rising cross/shot – not sure which – that is pushed over the crossbar by Raya. After a spell of Arsenal dominance, West Ham are starting to carry a threat on the break.
74 min In case you’ve been at a digital retreat in the Kerguelen Islands for the last fortnight, Arsenal need to win to keep the title exclusively in their hands. A draw means both teams can control their own destiny by winning their remaining games 15-0. And a defeat would put the title back in City’s hands alone.
The relegation picture is more complicated, so don’t start.
73 min Saka’s flat cross is headed over at the far post by Gyokeres. A tough chance, 10 yards out and under pressure from Todibo, but a chance of sorts.
71 min Bowen does superbly to hold onto the ball, wait for support and then release Diouf on the left. He curls an excellent cross towards Pablo, forcing Rice to get in front and concede a corner. Superb defending from Rice.
69 min: Off the line by Mavropanos!
Rice’s free-kick hits the unsighted Mavropanos and bounces out in front of goal. Arsenal shriek for handball against Pablo, who was on the floor and couldn’t get out of the way. While that was going on, Gabriel forced a shot from six yards that was cleared off the line by Mavropanos.
Gabriel’s shot might have been hitting the post anyway, I’m not sure. There’s a VAR check for handball but Pablo eventually gets the all clear.
68 min Todibo shoves Gyokeres over from behind and is booked. The free-kick is about 30 yards from goal on the left wing, so the big men are coming forward.
68 min These are the revised line-ups.
West Ham (5-2-2-1) Hermansen; Wan-Bissaka, Disasi, Todibo, Mavropanos, Diouf; Soucek, Fernandes; Bowen, Summerville; Pablo.
Arsenal (4-3-3) Raya; Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard.
68 min: Double substitution for Arsenal Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz come on for Eberechi Eze and the first-half substitute Martin Zubimendi.
67 min This video is dedicated to fans of West Ham, Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester City, the England cricket team…
66 min: West Ham substitution Pablo replaces Taty Castellanos, who impressed once again for West Ham.
65 min Fernandes fires a sharp pass into Bowen, who hits a speculative right-foot shot from 20 yards that is blocked by Saliba (I think).
65 min “On a sunny spring afternoon, it scratches the itch in an overactive brain to notice that the strips are (almost) the complete opposite of each other – claret, white, white versus white, claret, claret (sort of),” writes Paul McGrory. “I’m sure such an orderly vision will soothe the angst of either Mr Arteta or Santo if this game doesn’t go their way.”
64 min The free-kick is tossed deep, headed back across… and then the referee blows for a foul to West Ham.
63 min Rice is fouled 25 yards from goal by Fernandes. Arsenal have been a lot better in the last five minutes – it feels like, if not a goal, then at least a big chance is in the post.
62 min “Anyone have a clue why Arsenal are playing this game like they are three goals up?” writes Colin Livingstone. “Slow, zero urgency, passing it round the back – it is baffling.”
I guess the plan is to pass West Ham to sleep. The level of defensive concentration required by West Ham has to take some toll in the last half an hour.
61 min “On the one hand, I’d be quite happy for the season to end right now,” chirps Matt Dony. “On the other, I’m torn. There’s just so much potential for hilarity. I have nothing specific against Arsenal, and I have a lot of sympathy for the decent Arsenal fans over the last few seasons. But it would be objectively funny if they threw this away.
“At the same time, it would be entertaining to see Pep fall agonisingly short in potentially his last season at City. Tottenham have traditionally been a likeable club, but you can’t tell me it wouldn’t be laughable if they went down. Unfortunately, West Ham going back to the yo-yo years is also top scran. I don’t know who I want to win! But in a way, aren’t we all winners?”
In what way would that be?
60 min Rice’s corner is headed away in the six-yard box. Not sure who was responsible but it was a fine defensive header.
59 min Trossard tries to put Saka through on goal with a nice pass. Diouf tracks Saka’s run and slices the ball behind for – cue the Jaws music – an Arsenal corner.
58 min A better move from Arsenal ends with Saka driving over from 22 yards.
56 min Zubimendi overhits a simple pass out to Eze, a symbol of Arsenal’s sloppy performance since half-time.
55 min And this is how the bottom of the table will look should West Ham draw the game.
54 min If the match is drawn, Arsenal will be three points and one goal ahead of Manchester City having played a game more. It’s Spandex-tight, and not in a good way.
53 min “Given what’s at stake for these two sides,” begins Peter Oh, “watching this as a fan with skin in the game must be – in Pep Guardiola’s words – so tough, so tough.”
52 min Saka wafts high and wide from distance.
51 min It’s been a bitty start to the second half, which probably suits West Ham more than Arsenal.
49 min Bowen slips a good pass into the area for Castellanos, whose mishit shot on the run is blocked. The ball rebounds to Bowen, whose daisy-cutter from 25 yards is comfortably saved by Raya.
47 min These are the revised line-ups.
West Ham (5-2-2-1) Hermansen; Wan-Bissaka, Disasi, Todibo, Mavropanos, Diouf; Soucek, Fernandes; Bowen, Summerville; Castellanos.
Subs: Areola, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Wilson, Pablo, Magassa, Scarles, Potts, Kante.
Arsenal (4-3-3) Raya; Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Eze, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Hincapie, Odegaard, Martinelli, Madueke, Havertz, Dowman.
46 min West Ham get the second half under way. It’s a biggie.
Half-time substitution Cristhian Mosquera is coming on for Riccardo Calafiori, which means Declan Rice will move back into midfield. Myles Lewis-Skelly goes to left-back.
Half-time reading
Half time: West Ham 0-0 Arsenal
It was never going to be PSG 5-4 Bayern revisited, was it? An intriguing, hella tense first half ends with a scoreline that suits neither team.
Arsenal started excellently – Leandro Trossard headed against the bar and post in the same attack, Riccardo Calafiori had a header cleared off the line – but West Ham were more aggressive as half-time approached and caused Arsenal a few problems. The impressive Taty Castellanos drew a good save from David Raya with a spectcular Keith Houchen tribute header.
It may or may not be a coincidence that Arsenal started to lose control of the game when Declan Rice was moved to right-back.
45+2 min Three minutes of added time. Arsenal look a bit rattled; they haven’t been happy with a few of the challenges – Disasi on Gyokeres, Soucek on Lewis-Skelly and Whoeveritwas on Calafiori.
45+1 min The corner is half cleared and knocked back into the box before bouncing through to Raya. Todibo almost had a chance to turn it goalwards from close range but couldn’t sort his feet out.
45 min: Good save by Raya!
West Ham have made some robust challenges in the last few minutes. The latest leaves Calafiori on the floor and allows West Ham to break. Wan-Bissaka charges down the right and crosses early towards Castellanos, who is barely inside the penalty area when he throws himself into a diving header. He makes superb contact, too, and Raya has to dive a long way to his right to push it behind.
43 min Nine of Arsenal’s ten attempts at goal were in the first 22 minutes. The half-time break will come at a good time for them.
40 min West Ham have done well to restore order after a very difficult start to the game. They’ve defended really well in open play, with only one chance for Calafiori, but set-pieces have been a problem.
38 min Summerville is booked for a late challenge on Gabriel, who got to a loose ball first and was clattered a split-second later.
36 min Summerville turns Lewis-Skelly beautifully and sets off on an enterprising run to the edge of the area. Eventually he loses his balance and shoots wide of the far post.
36 min Eze takes a few deep breaths, strides forward… and throttles a poor free-kick into the wall.
35 min The free-kick is fractionally to the right of centre. Rice and Eze are over it…
34 min Zubimendi is fouled 25 yards from goal by Castellanos, who is less then thrilled with the decision and even more aggrieved when a yellow card is wafted in his direction.
