Arsenal 1-0 West Ham player ratings, stats and reaction: Welbeck seals win, injury sours night

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Arsenal secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over West Ham United at the Emirates on Tuesday night in their League Cup quarter-final meeting.

Danny Welbeck’s goal in the 42nd minute was all that separated the two sides, and it was a scrappy finish with the England forward tapping home from close range.

Nevertheless, he’ll be delighted to get back on the scoresheet while the Gunners advance and move closer to landing a trophy this season.

It wasn’t a particularly memorable game though, as the stats would suggest. Arsenal had one shot on target, which they scored with, while the visitors had none.

The only sour note on the night from a Gunners perspective was the injury suffered by Olivier Giroud, who looked to have pulled up with a hamstring injury and was replaced in the 76th minute.

Whether or not Arsenal go on to win the competition remains to be seen as there are other Premier League giants still involved, but Arsene Wenger will be pleased to progress as the attention now switches to Friday’s league meeting with Liverpool.

Arsenal player ratings: Ospina 7; Debuchy 7, Chambers 7, Holding 7, Kolasinac 7; Coquelin 8, Willock 7, Elneny 7; Walcott 6, Giroud 6, Welbeck 8.

Substitutes: Nelson N/A, Sheaf N/A, Da Silva N/A.

As per the statistic below, it was Welbeck’s first goal in this competition since October 2009, dating back to when he was still a Man Utd player.

Wenger will certainly be hoping that he can add to that tally as while he continues to rotate his squad and Welbeck edges closer to full fitness, he’ll likely be handed a prominent role in the remaining cup run, particularly if Giroud is sidelined for a while.

Naturally, Arsenal fans were pleased to reach this stage of the competition for the first time in seven years, with many applauding the efforts of many of the back-up players. For others, they wasted little time in switching their attention to matters on Friday against Liverpool and strangely Mesut Ozil’s contract situation which is still a big talking point.

The German international will see his current deal expire at the end of the season, and so with the threat of losing him for nothing looming large over Arsenal, fans are desperate to see a new agreement reached between the two parties.

More Stories calum chambers Danny Welbeck David Ospina Francis Coquelin Joe Willock mathieu debuchy Mohamed Elneny Olivier Giroud Rob Holding Sead Kolasinac Theo Walcott