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Several Tactically Errors that cost Arteta knocked out 3️⃣ – 1️⃣ by West Ham from the Carabao Cup, watch the full highlight.

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West Ham reached the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup by beating Arsenal for the first time in almost five years with a commanding victory at London Stadium.

 

Ben White headed into his own net under little pressure to give the Hammers an early lead, although goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale – making his first start in more than a month – complained he had been impeded in the absence of VAR technology for the tie.

 

The Hammers did not have a shot during the first half but swiftly made up for their lack of threat after the break, Ramsdale saving from Jarrod Bowen within seconds of the restart before Mohammed Kudus and Bowen struck.

 

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta sent on first-team regulars Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice during the second half and may be left to rue playing a weakened starting lineup after seeing his side dumped feebly out of the competition.

After Kudus doubled West Ham’s lead with a classy touch and finish from Nayef Aguerd’s long pass, Bowen fired in the third via a deflection off Jakub Kiwior.

Gunners captain Odegaard drilled in a consolation deep into stoppage time as Arsenal suffered their first defeat against English opponents this season.

 

Rice became Arsenal’s record signing when he arrived for £105 million in July but the Three Lions midfielder endured a forgettable return, emerging from the bench to mockery from the home fans.

 

West Ham are next in action when they visit Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, while Arsenal travel to Newcastle United later that day.

 

These sides were in contrasting form before their round of 16 encounter, Arsenal thrashing Sheffield United 5-0 on Saturday as part of a four-match unbeaten run in all competitions including victory over Manchester City.

David Moyes’ players had gone four games without a win and suffered three consecutive defeats, so a date against opponents they had not beaten since January 2019 did not look like the ideal opportunity to improve their fortunes.

 

All eight first-half attempts were by Arsenal, including the only effort on target, when Kai Havertz glanced a dangerous header towards goal that was alertly tipped over the bar by Lukasz Fabianski, playing against the club he spent seven years with until 2014.

 

White’s 16th-minute header was a strange way for West Ham to go ahead. Ramsdale immediately protested, and replays appeared to show that Tomas Soucek had been holding his shirt.

 

Moyes gave the fourth official his view of the incident in expressive style, but any questions about how deserving West Ham were of the advantage were answered by their approach during the second half, when their instructions had clearly been to attack more.

 

Kudus, who signed for £38m from Ajax in August, moved Oleksandr Zinchenko off balance with his first touch and sent his strike between the legs of Gabriel to put his side well on their way to a first win in nine matches against Arsenal.

West Ham’s attacking ambitions did not end there, Bowen seizing on White’s partial clearance on the edge of the penalty area following a corner and firing a shot towards goal which took a nick off Kiwior to divert the ball beyond the grounded Ramsdale.

 

Those defeats to Aston Villa, Olympiacos and, surprisingly, Everton at home on Sunday had looked like a worrying slump for West Ham. This convincing win was an impressive response.

 

Much of the attention from Arsenal’s critics will be on the six changes Arteta made to his starting lineup, and a glance at the first-half statistics may have left the former player for Moyes at Everton feeling this was not to be his night.

 

Ramsdale was restored ahead of on-loan David Raya for the first time in almost a month, earning the unwanted distinction of becoming the first Arsenal goalkeeper to let in three goals this season.

 

Arteta probably hoped he would not need to use his glittering cast on the bench. Introduced alongside Takehiro Tomiyasu in place of the sub-par Zinchenko, Rice joined the action and duly misplaced numerous passes to mocking cheers from most of the stadium.

 

Rice is revered at West Ham for winning the UEFA Europa Conference League at the club last season. This time, he received renditions of “you should have stayed with the big club” during a forgettable appearance on a pitch where he used to celebrate.

 

Unbeaten in the league after 10 games, Arsenal’s impressive start has only been notably tarnished by their two defeats in cup competitions, also losing at Lens in the Champions League on November 3.

 

How perturbed Arteta and his players will be at departing the Carabao Cup is debatable, as is the resolve they have among their second string on the evidence of this unexpectedly tame exit.

 

Arteta will undoubtedly have been mindful of Saturday’s trip to Newcastle, but he still emphasised the importance of his understudies demonstrating their desire to win and take a step towards a first major trophy since the 2019/20 FA Cup.

 

A second successive victory at Newcastle, who are unbeaten in six league games and won their last-16 tie 3-0 at Manchester United, would go a long way towards ensuring this defeat is remembered as a minor blip rather than a sign of squad weakness.

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