West Ham United Bundle Arsenal Out Of The Carabao Cup Beating Them 3-1
West Ham advanced to the Carabao Cup quarterfinals by defeating Arsenal for the first time in nearly five years at London Stadium.
Ben White headed into his own net under minimal pressure to give the Hammers an early lead, but goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale – making his first start in over a month – claimed that he had been hampered by the lack of VAR equipment for the match.
The Hammers had no shots in the first half but quickly made up for it after the interval, with Ramsdale save from Jarrod Bowen just seconds after the restart before Mohammed Kudus and Bowen scored.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta sent on first-team regulars Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Declan Rice in the second half, and he may come to regret fielding a weaker starting lineup as his club was knocked out of the tournament.
West Ham vs Arsenal result
| Fulltime | Goalscorers | |
| West Ham | 2 | Ben White (og) ’16, Mohammed Kudus ’50 |
| Arsenal | 1 | Martin Odegaard ’90+6 |
Starting lineups:
West Ham (4-2-3-1): Fabianski (GK) – Coufal, Mavropanos, Aguerd, Emerson – Alvarez, Soucek – Kudus, Paqueta, Benrahma – Bowen
Arsenal (4-3-3): Ramsdale (GK) – White, Kiwior, Gabriel, Zinchenko – Jorginho, Havertz, Vieira – Nelson, Trossard, Nketiah
Bowen scored the third goal on a deflection off Jakub Kiwior after Kudus increased West Ham’s advantage with a beautiful touch and finish from Nayef Aguerd’s long throw.
As Arsenal suffered their first defeat against English opponents this season, skipper Odegaard hammered in a consolation deep into stoppage time.
Rice became Arsenal’s record acquisition in July when he joined for £105 million, but the Three Lions midfielder had a miserable debut, arriving off the bench to jeers from the home crowd.
West Ham will play Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, while Arsenal will play Newcastle United later that day.
Much of the attention from Arsenal’s critics will be on the six changes Arteta made to his starting lineup, and a glance at the first-half statistics may have left the former player for Moyes at Everton feeling this was not to be his night.
Ramsdale was restored ahead of on-loan David Raya for the first time in almost a month, earning the unwanted distinction of becoming the first Arsenal goalkeeper to let in three goals this season.
Arteta probably hoped he would not need to use his glittering cast on the bench. Introduced alongside Takehiro Tomiyasu in place of the sub-par Zinchenko, Rice joined the action and duly misplaced numerous passes to mocking cheers from most of the stadium.
Rice is revered at West Ham for winning the UEFA Europa Conference League at the club last season. This time, he received renditions of “you should have stayed with the big club” during a forgettable appearance on a pitch where he used to celebrate.
Arsenal are unbeaten in the league after ten games, but their outstanding start has been marred by two cup defeats, as well as a Champions League setback against Lens on November 3.
How upset Arteta and his players will be at leaving the Carabao Cup is uncertain, as is the resolve they have among their second string after such an unexpectedly tame departure.
Despite being aware of Saturday’s trip to Newcastle, Arteta emphasized the significance of his understudies exhibiting their will to win and take a step towards a first major title since the 2019/20 FA Cup.
A second straight win against Newcastle, who are undefeated in six league games and won their last-16 encounter 3-0 at Manchester United, would go a long way toward ensuring that this setback is viewed as a momentary blip rather than an indication of team weakness.
