How Arsenal showed attacking variety in 5-0 thrashing of West Ham
A dominant Arsenal display made it nine straight wins sending them into clashes with Chelsea and Spurs full of confidence
Arsenal extended their winning streak to nine matches in all competitions with a 5-0 win over West Ham in the early spring sunshine at the Emirates on Saturday. A Chloe Kelly hat-trick, along with goals from Alessia Russo and Beth Mead, ensured the Gunners go into a season-defining week full of confidence, with further London derbies against Chelsea and Spurs to come. Here are The Cutback’s key findings from a dominant Arsenal victory.
The Cutback (and other routes to goal)
A theme of Arsenal’s attacking play this season has been the number of goals they have scored from low crosses and cutbacks. After the match, Arseblog News’ Tim Stillman put it to Renée Slegers that her side had scored a number of goals in this way, to which the Arsenal head coach gave an interesting response, acknowledging that while goals from crosses were “a big part of [their] game”, one of her side’s strengths is their ability to score through a variety of avenues.
This was exemplified by the goals scored on the day. Arsenal’s opener came from a low cross in the most direct way possible, with Kelly’s fizzed delivery towards the corridor of uncertainty not requiring a touch from the lurking duo of Stina Blackstenius and Olivia Smith. Similarly, Arsenal’s second came from a wide area, with Smilla Holmberg picking out the head of Alessia Russo with a high ball into the box. Arsenal’s third and fifth goals were finished expertly following intricate passing moves, while the fourth was the result of intense pressing in the wide areas – another facet of Arsenal’s play that has formed an integral part of ‘Slegersball’.
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