'Devastated': Football world in disbelief over 'ludicrous' scenes
Football fans were in utter disbelief after Arsenal staged one of the all-time comebacks after trailing 0-3 to draw against West Ham in the Premier League.
David Moyes' men started the London derby on fire after taking a remarkable 3-0 lead in the frist half, which would have seen them draw level with Chelsea in fourth place.
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Jesse Lingard continued his strong form and scored the opening goal, before Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek rounded off a brilliant half.
But things took a turn for the Hammers.
Soucek and Craig Dawson scored own goals before Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette scored a late header to round off the comeback in a game of two halves.
Images after the game showed West Ham and Arsenal players scattered across the pitch in disbelief after both teams thought they could have won the game.
Fans were completely taken a back by the comeback, but also the rollercoaster nature of the match.
Some game that. Arsenal comeback highlights why club have to do everything to get Odegaard to stay; he takes charge, some of his passing eye-of-the-needle stuff, special player. #afc comeback also showed why Chambers deserves a run in the side; tireless, superb crosses. #WHUARS
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) March 21, 2021
🗣"It is unacceptable, you are playing for Arsenal, you can't start like that."
Paul Merson said Arsenal's first half display was unacceptable and thinks teams can't afford to turn up and expect results anymore in the PL pic.twitter.com/Y6fBdEVmVN— Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 21, 2021
It is a little bit amusing that two years ago Arsenal had loaned a fringe creative player from a La Liga giant and it was a colossal waste of time and money. Same trick (although it was obvious all along that Odegaard was way better) and it's added a lot to this team.
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) March 21, 2021
💬 "They dominated from the beginning and we were completely lost. But with the second half, we dominated from the beginning to the end. We could've scored more goals."
📺 Watch @ThomasPartey22's full interview after #WHUARS 👇— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 21, 2021
A sign of progress, in terms of the group mentality, that Arsenal keep fighting their way back into games. A sign of the ongoing problems, in terms of their actual performances, that they keep playing themselves into trouble. Ludicrous team.
— Sam Dean (@SamJDean) March 21, 2021
Despite earning a point, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said the game would give him sleepless nights.
“This game is going to give me a few nightmares because it is really difficult to stop some of the things we have been doing to hurt ourselves,” Arteta said after the game.
Arteta critical of Arsenal performance
Arteta pointed out the second goal his team conceded, from a quick free-kick from Bowen to Lingard, was alarming.
Arsenal also nearly conceded at 3-2 when Declan Rice charged half the pitch towards the keeper for a good save from Leno.
“Hard to explain, we knew the game we would face against West Ham, they can create problems for any team,” he added.
“The first goal is something they do really well — the second and third goal, and the chance that we conceded at the end, is unacceptable.”
Despite the rollercoaster performance, Arteta was impressed with his team's second-half grit.
Real Madrid loanee Martin Odegaard was particularly impressive in the midfield.
Ødegaard completed 7 passes into the box in open play today, the most by an Arsenal player in a single game this season
— Tom Worville (@Worville) March 21, 2021
What a game this is. Three pre-assists for Odegaard, who has been the best player on this pitch by some way since 3-0.
— Nick Ames (@NickAmes82) March 21, 2021
“That is the level we can show, the other is top level and probably the best we play all season — we could have scored six or seven goals and won the game, but we cannot have two faces,” Arteta said.
West Ham coach Moyes shared Arteta's joy and frustration on the match, which cost them fourth place in the Premier League.
“It would have been nice to take the three points because it would have kept us right in there, but we’ve not lost too much ground,” a phlegmatic Moyes said.
“It has been a long time since we finished above Arsenal, we have done our best to make sure they can’t catch us. Now we want more, I’m greedy and they are devastated in the dressing room at not taking three points.”
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