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Written by Martin Graham | May 2, 2022
Arsenal have now secured a place in Europe next season with their away win over London rivals West Ham United.
Arsenal missed out on Europe this season, even missing the first edition of the European Conference League. They were last seen in the UEFA Champions League in 2016-2017 too, to put their struggles in the Premier League for the past few seasons into perspective.
However, a difficult away win over West Ham, who made a secondary side ahead of the second leg of the UEFA Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt, officially secured him a place in the first, second or third division. European competition next season.
Arsenal are now fourth after losing provisionally to north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Leicester City in the Conference League semi-final earlier in the afternoon.
Mikel Arteta’s side will now focus their battle on returning to the Champions League after five seasons. Their rivalry with Tottenham, who are also fighting for a return to the Champions League, is sure to motivate them to embrace the challenge and overcome it.
Match report: West Ham United 1-2 Arsenal
West Ham played in a safe way and presented a weak team as they prepared to travel to Germany to face Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League. Unlike Arsenal, the Hammers have had two chances to secure a place in Europe next season, choosing to prioritize a place that could lead to the cup.
Arsenal entered Sunday’s match after Tottenham temporarily finished fourth by defeating Leicester. But Arsenal did not look like a team that wanted to win.
It was a comedy of mistakes from Arsenal, who were helped hugely by West Ham’s failure to tap their chances. Arsenal then had a break with a goal that reversed the course of play when Ben White’s manager Rob Holding headed in a corner kick from Bukayo Saka in the 39th minute. Fans were particularly delighted as this was Holding’s first Premier League goal in six years As an Arsenal player.
West Ham regained the difference when Jarrod Bowen scored a clean, low goal and beat Aaron Ramsdale against Arsenal in the first half. Hammers came out in the second half quietly a bit but Arsenal couldn’t do much to kill the match.
It was another header in the 55th minute from Arsenal’s other central defender in the afternoon, Gabriel Magalhaes that put the north London side ahead. West Ham were almost satisfied with the result as they didn’t push hard for another goal, perhaps with the Europa League at the back of their minds.
In the meantime, Arsenal continued to make mistakes in front of West Ham’s goal and would consider themselves lucky to be left tied with the three points.
