Photo: Cheikhou Kouyate heads past Petr Cech to give West Ham the lead against Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday. West Ham went on to win the game 2-0 and end an eight year unbeaten streak against Arsene Wenger’s men. (Getty Images)
Arsene Wenger saw his team’s eight year unbeaten run against West Ham snapped on Sunday as they endured a nightmarish start to the Barclays Premier League, beaten 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in front of their bewildered supporters.
Arsenal entered the game high on confidence after a preseason that saw them win three trophies including the Community Shield.
They were expected to gather all three points at home, but were instead run off the park by a more determined and physically fit West Ham team, playing in the mold of new coach, Slaven Bilic.
The teams appeared to be heading to the break scoreless after a fairly even first half, but Cheikhou Kouyate had other ideas when he headed the visitors in front just two minutes before the interval. A Dimitri Payet free kick from the right hand side was met by the head of Kouyate who was quicker to the ball than the Arsenal custodian Petr Cech as the Hammers struck a decisive blow at a critical time.
Cech’s nightmare league debut for Arsenal continued in the second half when he took the ball out the back of the net for a second time after he was wrong-footed by Mauro Zarate who fired home from distance twelve minutes into the second half.
Wenger went to his bench, first bringing on Theo Walcott, then Copa America winner Alexis Sanchez, but neither striker could find the net as Bilic’s men held firm for a famous victory on a ground where they had never previously registered a win.
West Ham have their goalkeeper Adrian to thank for keeping a clean sheet as he pulled off quite a few saves in a late Arsenal onslaught.
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