Arsenal 2-0 West Brom Five Things: controlled display

Lacazette celebrates his second – bbc.co.uk

A fine performance from Alexis Sanchez and a brace from Alexandre Lacazette saw Arsenal to a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, although they were helped by an element of first half fortune. Here’s five main talking points from the match.

First half themes

West Brom looked organized early on, pressing Arsenal into their own half. The work rate of Allan Nyom and Kieran Gibbs meant that the opposing wing-backs, Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac, received the ball in uncomfortable positions, forcing them to play backwards. The home side needed more creativity from their centre-backs and midfielders, but Mohamed Elneny looked reluctant to make third man runs and the centre-backs did not move far forward enough to open up space. West Brom had a good chance when Gareth Barry played a wonderful ball over the top down the left for Jay Rodriguez, who might have been fouled by Shkodran Mustafi, then recovering his balance to hit the far post.

Sanchez masterclass

Even though Alexis Sanchez did not score, he was at the centre of every good move his side put together. His free-kick hit the bar before Alexandre Lacazette was more alert than the West Brom back-line, quick to the rebound to tap home. Shortly after, Sanchez then played a wonderfully-weighted ball into the lively Aaron Ramsey, who could have added a second from a tight angle after rounding Ben Foster.

Rodriguez chances

The Gunners had to be alert in the last 10 minutes of the first half though, when Albion stepped up a level. Grzegorz Krychowiak went on a lung-busting run down the left and dinked a cross to the back-post for Rodriguez, who saw his header cleared off the line by the excellent Nacho Monreal. The ex-Burnley forward could on another day have had a first half hat-trick, failing to make contact after Hal Robson-Kanu flicked on Nyom’s right-wing cross. Those moments would prove costly for the visitors.

Controlled second half

West Brom had pressed at a higher intensity when they were drawing early on than they did when they were behind in the second half. Their energy levels declined while their plan descended into one of damage limitation. Arsenal exploited that, holding onto the ball on the edge of the final third for long periods, waiting their moment to attack. That moment came on 66 minutes when Aaron Ramsey accelerated into the box from the left and was barged by Nyom, who conceded the penalty. Foster chose the correct corner, but Lacazette gave him no chance with a confident spot kick. Tony Pulis had brought on forward Salomon Rondon and midfielder James Morrison before the second goal, but after it they were toyed with by the hosts, who cruised to a comfortable victory.

In summary

This was not a disastrous result for West Brom, who have still had a reasonable start where survival is concerned and can take positives from their first half performance. Their damage limitation plan in the second half though might peeve some supporters who paid good money to travel to North London on a Monday night and hoped to see their side play with some pride. The last three games represents stabilization for Arsenal, who remain a long way off the Manchester clubs but have at least got closer to the rest. Following a gutless showing at Anfield at the August, which rightly drew criticisms of their lack of organization, the achievement of going the whole of September without conceding a goal is not insignificant.