With a 3-1 victory over West Ham, Arsenal produced an incredible comeback to move seven points clear at the top of the Premier League on a night when former Gunners manager Arsene Wenger made his first trip back to the Emirates Stadium since leaving the team in 2018.
Wenger, who spent 22 years at Arsenal, had not hidden the fact that he found his Arsenal departure difficult and insisted he didn’t have any plans to return to watch his former side.
With the visitors a goal ahead, Michail Antonio almost caught the Gunners napping moments into the second period. Gabriel was caught out but didn’t panic, using his strength and presence to rush the West Ham striker into a shot which didn’t have enough direction to beat Ramsdale.
The Gunners needed to find a response after the break and they did just that as two goals in five minutes from Bukayo Saka (53) and Gabriel Martinelli (58) brought a smile to Wenger’s face, before Eddie Nketiah, leading the line for Arsenal in the absence of Gabriel Jesus, rounded off a brilliant night for Mikel Arteta’s side .
On Arsenal’s win on the day Wenger ended his exile at Arsenal, Arteta said: “It’s a special day.
“Thank you so much for him coming and hopefully walking through the building he is going to feel everything that everybody thinks of him, everything that he left here, but also his presence is something that has to be very attached to this football club. So, thank you for doing that because it means a lot to every body at the club.
“It’s great and winning my mood is going to be better to speak to him and be around the team. He picked the right moment. I thought the performance today was at a level that he deserved and that hopefully he would like.”
