Wonderful Walcott: A Closer Look At How The Winger Inspired Arsenal’s Win Over West Ham

West Ham, or Sam Allardyce in particular, comes with a stigma attached. They are renowned for being an ugly side who like to lump the ball up the field to a big man who knocks it down to the runners around him. The Hammers may have mixed it up a bit this season, but they are in a desperate position and have continuously turned in sluggish performances this term. So, to exploit the lethargic Londoners, you’d naturally deploy a speedy, determined forward to was willing to run at their giant defenders, wouldn’t you?

Well, that’s exactly what Arsene Wenger did yesterday as his Arsenal side travelled to Upton Park, and it was Theo Walcott who took the game by the scruff of the neck and propelled the Gunners to the top of the Premier League table.

Playing from the right, Walcott delivered eight crosses into the box during the 90 minutes and found a colleague with half of those.

He was behind three dribbles, two of which he came out on top of, and was generally positive in his distribution of the ball. The England international has often been criticised for his decision making, but his composure has always been a strong asset of his, and he proved it once again as he scored twice.

He scored a clever header – the first of his whole career, and one that you may consider lucky when watching back, but in total he had five shots on goal and only one was off target.

He ran the West Ham backline ragged and can sleep easy knowing that it was his sparkling display that leaves Arsenal a point clear at the top of a close-fought table.