Trossard's late strike ends West Ham's resistance in Hammers' fight for survival

Then Trossard arrived in the 83rd minute and made it count. A simple finish, really - prodded home from close range after Odegaard had worked the space on the left. It was exactly the sort of poacher's moment you'd expect Arsenal to manufacture eventually. West Ham had no answer. They'd managed just three shots on goal all evening and had created so little that their goalkeeper barely had to break a sweat. The expected goals chart told the real story: Arsenal 1.36, West Ham 1.28. Marginal, yes, but Arsenal's dominance was relentless.

A simple finish, really - prodded home from close range after Odegaard had worked the space on the left. It was exactly the sort of poacher's moment you'd expect Arsenal to manufacture eventually. West Ham had no answer. They'd managed just three shots on goal all evening and had created so little that their goalkeeper barely had to break a sweat. The expected goals chart told the real story: Arsenal 1.36, West Ham 1.28. Marginal, yes, but Arsenal's dominance was relentless. Kavanagh had a quiet night by comparison, though the card count got silly as the match wore on.

Kavanagh had a quiet night by comparison, though the card count got silly as the match wore on. Seven yellows in total suggested both sides got a bit loose in the latter stages. West Ham accumulated three early yellows before Arsenal picked up four, with Saliba and Trossard both seeing yellow in the closing moments. Nothing controversial, just the sort of niggly booking that comes when one team is chasing the game.

Arsenal made hard work of their squad management here. Losing Zubimendi to injury in the 28th minute forced White into action at left-back, and then Calafiori came on at half-time. The transition looked clunky at times, but they never looked remotely in danger. They could afford to rotate further in the second half, bringing on Eze for Odegaard and tightening their grip with fresh legs.

For West Ham, this was a damning night. Forty points from 36 games leaves them firmly in the bottom three, and performances like this won't change that trajectory. They created little, risked even less, and shipped a goal they had no way of preventing. With the season approaching its denouement, this felt like a relegation-form display from a team running out of ideas. Arsenal, by contrast, simply did what the league leaders should do: controlled the game, kept it tight, and struck when it mattered. That's why they're top and West Ham are fighting for their lives.