WEST HAM UNITED
theyflysohigh : Steve Marsh
FOOTBALL PROGRAMMES &
Collectables through the Decade
A Pictorial History
2025-26 Premier League
Manager: Graham Potter / Nuno Espiroto Santo
Note:
Players in BOLD made their debuts for West Ham United
SUNDERLAND
Stadium of Light
0 - 3
16 August 2015
Ref: Rob Jones
Att: 46,233
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Premier League Head to Head: Played: 31
West Ham United won: 13, Drawn: 10, Lost: 8
Goals: 34, Against: 29
MADS HERMASEN
Wan-Bissaka
Todibo (Irving)
Kilman
Aguerd
EL HADJI MALICK DIOUF
Rodriguez (CALLUM WILSON)
Ward-Prowse (Soucek)
Paqueta
Bowen
Fullkrug
West Ham United began the 2025/26 Premier League season with a 3-0 defeat by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Roared on by a deafening home crowd, high on belief after winning promotion via the Championship Play-Offs in May and bolstered by a host of new signings, the Black Cats made the perfect return to the Premier League after an eight-year absence.
For West Ham, what looked a difficult-looking opening-day fixture on paper proved to be too difficult in practice as second-half goals from Play-Off winners Eliezer Mayenda, Dan Ballard and Wilson Isidor sent the Londoners back down south with nothing.
The Irons had lost just one of their previous 17 Premier League games against promoted teams and none of their eight most-recent top-flight matches against the Wearsiders. Sunderland, meanwhile, had not won any of their seven most-recent Premier League opening-day fixtures, and tasted victory in just one of their final 14 top-flight matches of the 2016/17 season – their last at this level.
But all those favourable statistics and positive history counted for absolutely nothing, of course, once referee Robert Jones blew for kick-off and, roared on by a near-capacity 46,233-strong crowd, Sunderland deservedly won the game.
Sunderland:
Roefs, Hume, Ballard, Seelt (Alderete), Reinildo, Xhaka, Sadiki, Diarra, Talbi (Rigg), Adingra (Le Fée), Mayenda (Isidor)
CHELSEA
London Stadium
1 - 5 (Paqueta 6')
22 August 2025
Ref: Michael Oliver
Att: 62,462
Hermansen
Wan-Bissaka
Todibo (Potts)
Kilman
Aguerd
Diouf
Ward-Prowse
Soucek (KYLE WALKER-PETERS)
Paqueta
Bowen
Fullkrug (Wilson)
Kick-off: 8:00pm
Premier League Head to Head: Played: 59
West Ham United won: 16, Drawn: 10, Lost: 33
Goals: 57, Against: 109
League position: 20th
West Ham has now created a new Premier League record of conceding eight or more goals in their first two games in a season.
West Ham United’s difficult start to the 2025/26 Premier League season continued with a 5-1 home defeat by Chelsea. After a bright start from the team in Claret and Blue the game turned in the Blues’ favour on the length of Jean-Clair Todibo’s boot.
West Ham had taken the lead through Lucas Paquetá’s 25-yard thunderbolt inside six minutes, raising hopes of a welcome home victory. The goal, created by a Nayef Aguerd challenge and an El Hadji Malick Diouf pass, was celebrated by the Brazilian’s trademark dance. Those hopes were reduced when João Pedro headed in Marc Cucurella’s flick-on from a Pedro Neto corner on the quarter-hour mark.
Moments later, though, Todibo latched onto Paquetá’s pass and cut the ball back. Maximilian Kilman’s initial shot hit Jarrod Bowen and the ball span into the path of Füllkrug, who drove into the Chelsea net. London Stadium erupted. Füllkrug grinned. Paquetá danced again. However, the cheers dissipated, the German’s smile disappeared and Paquetá stopped dancing when VAR Jarred Gillett confirmed the French defender was offside, only marginally, but offside nonetheless.
By half-time, Chelsea had built a 3-1 lead with two goals that left Head Coach Graham Potter shaking his head, converted from a combined total of about eight yards by Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernández. First, on 23 minutes, Paquetá was robbed by Moisés Caicedo, perhaps illegally, on the edge of his own penalty area. Malo Gusto collected the loose ball, crossed and Neto nipped in front of Aaron Wan-Bissaka to half-volley past Mads Hermansen. Then, on 34, Dane had no chance again as Estêvão latched into Liam Delap’s lay-off, sped towards the byline and centred for Fernández to score. West Ham’s response before half-time was restricted to two overheads from Paquetá and Bowen, both easily saved by Sánchez, and a Bowen shot blocked by Cucurella.
Potter replaced Füllkrug and Jean-Clair Todibo with Callum Wilson and Freddie Potts at the break – the former for his home debut and the latter for his first Premier League appearance. Fernández could have made it 4-1 on 50 minutes, but skied Neto’s cross from the penalty spot. Caicedo then did make it 4-1 on 54, poking in after Hermansen failed to catch Fernández’s inswinging corner. And it was 5-1 on 58 from another corner as João Pedro headed down and Trevoh Chalobah fired in. With a four-goal lead, Chelsea relented and West Ham created chances for a consolation, but Wilson nodded wide, Sánchez acrobatically tipped Potts’ shot over the crossbar and both Kilman and Aguerd headed over.
Chelsea:
Sánchez, Gusto (James), Tosin, Chalobah (Fofana), Cucurella (Hato), Caicedo, Fernández, Neto, Estêvão (Gittens), Pedro, Delap (Santos)
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS : FL Cup (Second Round)
Molineux
2 - 3 (Soucek 50', Paqueta 63')
26 August 2025
Ref: Darren England
Att: 19,561
Areola
Walker-Peters
Todibo (Fullkrug)
Mavropanos
Aguerd (Kilman)
Diouf
Rodriguez (Wilson)
Ward-Prowse
Soucek
Paqueta
Bowen
Kick-off: 7:30pm
Football League Cup Head to Head: Played: 1
West Ham United won: 0, Drawn: 0, Lost: 1
Goals: 3, Against 3
West Ham United’s quest to win the Carabao Cup for the first time is over following a 3-2 second-round defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Hammers came from behind to lead at Molinuex, only for two late goals from Norway striker Jørgen Strand Larsen to send the Londoners crashing out.
Head Coach Graham Potter would have hoped his side were on their way to the third round when headers from Tomáš Souček and Lucas Paquetá put the Irons in front with less than half-an-hour to play. But substitute Strand Larsen had other ideas, thumping Wolves through with a rising drive and a powerful near-post header in the last ten minutes. It all means West Ham remain without a win in 2025/26, and our hopes of winning this trophy for the first time in its 66-year history have ended.
The first half was a slow burner, with the first chance not arriving until the 25th minute. Paquetá and Jarrod Bowen combined to set up Souček, who forced Sam Johnstone to save well low to his left. Moments later, Paquetá dragged wide, then the Brazilian played in Bowen, who beat the offside trap but could not beat Johnstone. It was then Wolves’ turn as Jhon Arias tested Alphonse Areola and Nayef Aguerd blocked Rodrigo Gomes’s shot, before Guido Rodríguez’s trip on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde saw referee Darren England award the hosts a penalty four minutes before the break.
Wolves captain Hee-chan Hwang thumped the left-hand post with his spot-kick, but wing-back Gomes reacted quicker than anyone else to beat Areola at the base of his near post and put the home side in front. The first half ended with Paquetá heading James Ward-Prowse’s cross powerfully past the far post, but the second began with Souček levelling within five minutes. The Czech buried a trademark far-post header from Kyle Walker-Peters’ superb in-swinging left-foot cross from the right.
Thirteen minutes later, the Londoners took the lead in similar style. This time, Walker-Peters fed Bowen, who curled in a cross from the right and Paquetá flew into the box to bury his header past Johnstone. After seeing Hwang drive a free-kick wide, Wolves manager Vítor Pereira made a quadruple change, including the introduction of Strand Larsen, whose goal had won Wolves the Premier League fixture at Molineux in April. And history repeated itself as the No9 scored two goals in under two minutes to win the tie for his side.
With eight minutes to play, André’s deflected shot was kicked out by Areola as far as Strand Larsen, who fired into the roof of the West Ham net. Within two minutes, the substitute had scored again as Arias’s shot was blocked by Areola’s legs as far as Jackson Tchatchoua, whose cross was powered in at the near post by Wolves’ big No9. Paquetá volleyed over late on, but West Ham could not fashion a second comeback, and our Carabao Cup challenge fell at the first hurdle.
Wolverhampton Wanderers:
Johnstone, R.Gomes (Tchatchoua), Mosquera (Doherty), Agbadou, S.Bueno, H.Bueno, André, Bellegarde (J.Gomes), López (Strand Larsen), Arias, Hwang (Kalajdžić)
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
City Ground
3 - 0 (Bowen 84', Paqueta [pen 88'], Wilson (90'+1')
31 August 2025
Ref: Craig Pawson
Att: 30,215
Kick-off: 2:00pm
Premier League Head to Head: Played: 15
West Ham United won: 7, Drawn: 3, Lost: 5
Goals: 21, Against: 15
League position: 16th
Hermansen
Walker-Peters
Mavropanos
Kilman
Diouf
MATEUS FERNANDES (Summerville)
Ward-Prowse (Irving)
Soucek
Paqueta
Bowen
Fullkrug (Wilson)
West Ham United recorded their first Premier League victory at the City Ground since 1996 with a stunning 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest. Captain Jarrod Bowen did the damage again, turning in a Crysencio Summerville delivery with six minutes remaining, and then on 88 minutes, his fellow attacker Lucas Paquetá showed his cool, calm composure by drilling a spot-kick past Matz Sels. Callum Wilson stepped off the bench to put the seal on proceedings in stoppage time and register his first goal for the Club in what were late, late heroics in the East Midlands.
More importantly, the result saw us earn our first points of the 2025/26 campaign, and saw new Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes impress on debut.
The Hammers started positively, and that led to the visitors having great early sights of goal - Dinos Mavropanos headed over a James Ward-Prowse corner from just a couple of yards out, and Füllkrug did likewise ten minutes later as Forest struggled to handle our set-piece threat. Twenty minutes had passed when Nuno Espírito Santo’s side threatened for the first time.
They won a series of corners with Morgan Gibbs-White off-target with a flicked header, and when Callum Hudson-Odoi was felled in the box on 22 minutes, the City Ground screamed for a penalty, but referee Craig Pawson waved appeals away, a decision backed up by VAR James Bell.
With the game crying out for a spark of inspiration, if anyone was going to create something, it was Fernandes, who ran the channels, held the ball up and picked out pockets of space in front of the Forest back-line. From one such passage of play arrived West Ham’s best moment in the opening period, when our Portuguese No18 charged down the left flank, as he skipped beyond Ola Aina and pulled the ball back for Paquetá on the edge of the box, and his wonderful curling effort needed to be tipped over at full stretch by Sels. And that was about it for the first half. Chances were few and far between at either end, despite our dominance, but the Hammers looked much more potent in what was a solid performance in the opening 45.
The second half, however, was the polar opposite and began at a swift pace with both sides working opportunities during the opening minutes. Chris Wood first saw a header from close range easily saved by Mads Hermansen, while at the other end, in response, the visitors fashioned the best chance of the initial exchanges.
Bowen drove forward and delivered a low cross into the area, where Paquetá burst onto the ball and fired millimetres wide of Sels’ near post with his right foot, before Füllkrug forced Sels into a plunging one-handed save with a powerful angled drive. At the other end, the home side were now full of confidence, though, with Gibbs-White and Hudson-Odoi firing straight at Hermansen between the sticks.
Potter looked to shuffle his pack as the hour mark passed, bringing on the experienced Wilson in place of Füllkrug with the game crying out for a goal. Wilson almost provided it, surging onto the loose ball, and then firing the ball towards the top corner that forced a remarkable reaction save from Sels. As the clock ticked towards 90, it looked like it was going to be a case of one point instead of three for the visitors.
But as is so often the case, Bowen was in the right position inside the area to nudge home a Summerville - who had been introduced from the substitutes’ bench two minutes prior - cut-back to send the away end wild, and just as you wondered if the decisive second would come, it was Paquetá who produced with a well-taken penalty that left Sels with no chance on 88 minutes, after Summerville was felled by Ibrahim Sangaré.
And it got better for Potter’s men as Wilson - a constant threat since his introduction - sealed the three points by adding the finishing touch to a counter after latching onto a cross from El Hadji Malick Diouf. That was game, set and match, and Bowen almost added a fourth deep into second-half stoppage time, but Sels got down well to parry wide.
Nottingham Forest:
Sels, Aina, Murillo, Milenković, Williams, Sangaré (Kalimuendo), Anderson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi (Hutchinson), Ndoye (McAtee), Wood (Jesus)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
London Stadium
0 - 3
13 September 2025
Ref: Jarred Gillett
Att: 62,459
Kick-off: 5:30pm
Premier League Head to Head: Played: 59
West Ham United won: 18, Drawn: 13, Lost: 28
Goals: 68, Against: ?89
League position: 18th
Hermansen
Walker-Peters
Mavropanos
Kilman
Diouf
Fernandes (SOUNGOUTOU MAGASSA)
Ward-Prowse (Irving)
Soucek
Summerville (Guilherme)
Bowen
Paqueta (Wilson)
Three second-half goals condemned West Ham United to a 3-0 home Premier League defeat by Tottenham Hotspur. Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven found the net in the space of 19 minutes after the break as Thomas Frank’s side took the derby honours at London Stadium.
In the midst of Spurs’ three-goal salvo, West Ham also had Tomáš Souček sent-off for serious foul play, completing a difficult evening for head coach Graham Potter and his squad.
The first half was a stop-start affair, with six goal attempts interspersed with ten free-kicks, including the one awarded for a foul by Micky van de Ven that caused Cristian Romero’s 18th-minute header to be disallowed by referee Jarred Gillett. If not incensed, Spurs were disappointed by the Australian’s whistle for van de Ven’s push on Kyle Walker-Peters, which created space for Romero to nod Mohammed Kudus’s near-post corner past Mads Hermansen.
And the visitors were complaining again on 35 minutes when Mateus Fernandes and van de Ven wrestled in the West Ham penalty area as Kudus delivered another inswinging corner, but Gillett and VAR John Brooks both decided a foul had not been committed.
Before those two moments, West Ham had started the better, with El Hadji Malick Diouf and Crysencio Summerville – making his first start since January – repeatedly speeding down the Hammers’ left, and Walker-Peters and Jarrod Bowen doing likewise down the right.
On 14 minutes, Walker-Peters, Fernandes and Bowen combined to set up Lucas Paquetá, whose feint created space for a shot, only for the Brazilian to drag wide. Either side, delicious Diouf crosses just eluded Bowen and Fernandes. West Ham’s threat receded, though, with Tottenham enjoying increasing spells of possession in the home half and looking dangerous from the eight corners they won in the opening 45 minutes.
From one, Maximilian Kilman blocked a Pape Matar Sarr header narrowly wide. From another, two minutes before half-time, Hermansen clawed Kudus’s initial delivery away, then produced a superb point-blank save to keep out Romero’s follow-up shot, keeping the game goalless going into the break. Sadly, it did not remain that way for long and by the midway point of the second half Tottenham were out of sight and West Ham were down to ten men.
After Bowen had shot wide, an unmarked Sarr powered in Xavi Simons’ corner at the far post less than two minutes in. West Ham briefly rallied, with Vicario saving from Bowen and catching Diouf’s header, and Kilman heading over, but the game was soon over. On 55 minutes, Souček’s chest control let him down and, in his eagerness to recover, he slid and caught Palhinha high on the shin. Gillett immediately showed the Czech a red card on his 250th appearance for the Club.
Within 90 seconds, Romero picked out Lucas Bergvall and the Swede sent a header looping over Hermansen and into the net. Then, minutes after Potter had sent on Soungoutou Magassa for his debut, teenager Bergvall squared and van de Ven swept home a third. The remainder of the game was, predictably, played in the home half as the ten men in Claret and Blue sought to keep the score down, and Hermansen and substitute Andy Irving did their bit in added-time, both denying Kudus a goal on his return.
Tottenham Hotspur:
Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven (Danso), Spence (Udogie), Palhinha, Bergvall (Johnson), Sarr, Kudus, Simons (Richarlison), Tel (Odobert)
CRYSTAL PALACE
London Stadium
1 - 2 (Bowen 49')
20 September 2025
Ref: Tony Harrington
Att: 62,455
Areola
Walker-Peters
Mavropanos
Kilman
Diouf
Ward-Prowse
Fernandes (Magassa)
Paqueta
Bowen
Summerville (Guilherme)
Wilson (Fullkrug)
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Premier League Head to Head: Played: 29
West Ham United won: 10, Drawn: 8, Lost: 11
Goals: 49, Against: 47
League position: 18th
Oliver Glasner returned to haunt West Ham United again as his Crystal Palace side ran out 2-1 Premier League winners at London Stadium. The Austrian coach, whose Eintracht Frankfurt side defeated the Hammers in the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League semi-finals, saw his Eagles continue their unbeaten start to the season in Stratford.
A first-half header from Jean-Philippe Mateta and second-half volley from Tyrick Mitchell were enough to see off the Irons and render Jarrod Bowen’s equaliser nothing more than a consolation goal. A third straight home defeat leaves Graham Potter’s side in the bottom three ahead of a trip to face David Moyes’ Everton a week on Monday.
In truth, West Ham created next to nothing in the first half, with the hosts’ sole goal attempt seeing Dinos Mavropanos’s header from a James Ward-Prowse corner saved by Dean Henderson. That corner was won following a burst down the left from Crysencio Summerville, whose direct dribbling looked the most likely way to break down Crystal Palace’s solid defence. Another raid from the Dutchman created a chance for Callum Wilson on the stroke of half-time, only for the striker to delay his shot and lose possession to Yéremy Pino.
In between, the Eagles won seven corners of their own and scored from the sixth of them. Daichi Kamada saw one delivery tipped over by Alphonse Areola and a follow-up shot from Pina blocked by Wilson inside the opening ten minutes. Palace settled into their preferred and efficient playing style of ceding possession and then aggressively and quickly getting into the final third when they win the ball back, and it paid dividends.
First, Marc Guéhi, Daniel Muñoz and Pino combined to set up Kamada, who headed a yard past the far post, then Adam Wharton saw a shot blocked, then Palace scored. Pino’s volley bounced behind off Kyle Walker-Peters’ shoulder, Kamada delivered, Guéhi headed down, the ball bounced off Maximilian Kilman’s back, hit and the crossbar and dropped for Mateta to head in from close range.
There was still time for Muñoz to head over from his team’s seventh corner and Wilson to miss an opportunity to level, with Pino injuring his ankle making the tackle to stop West Ham’s No9. Palace won their eighth corner a minute into the second half and hit the crossbar again, this time through Maxime Lacroix’s powerful header, and fortunately this time the ball dropped to safety.
Within three minutes, West Ham levelled from a fourth corner of our own. Bowen won the set piece, Diouf delivered and the unmarked captain guided his header through the bodies and inside the far post. Having levelled, the home side’s general play improved immediately. Ward-Prowse saw a deflected shot held by Henderson, who then scrambled Bowen’s low strike around the near post and punched Muñoz’s wayward header out from under his own crossbar. Richards then cleared Paquetá’s header, Henderson held Walker-Peters’ shot and the right-back headed past the post as the Irons continued to press.
At the other end, the Eagles’ threat from set pieces remained as Mateta headed Wharton’s free-kick over. But it was from open play that the Eagles retook the lead. Wharton crossed, Mavropanos headed up rather than out under pressure from Kamada and Mitchell lashed the dropping ball past Areola. Palace then took control, with Mavropanos blocking Muñoz’s shot, Areola saving Jefferson Lerma’s low strike and Mitchell, Lerma and Justin Devenny all firing over. West Ham were unable to fashion a second equaliser in the seven added minutes and the final whistle signalled another disappointing matchday in East London.
Crystal Palace:
Henderson, Muñoz, Lacroix, Guehi, Richards, Mitchell, Wharton (Nketiah), Hughes (Lerma), Kamada, Pino (Devenny), Mateta
EVERTON
Hill Dickinson Stadium
1 - 1 (Bowen 65')
29 September 2025
Ref: Sam Barrott
Att: 51,890
Areola
Walker-Peters
Mavropanos
Kilman
Diouf
Magassa (Potts)
Fernandes
Paqueta (IGOR JULIO)
Bowen
Summerville (Guilherme)
Fullkrug (Irving)
Kick-off: 8:00pm
Premier League Head to Head: Played: 59
West Ham United won: 14, Drawn: 16, Lost: 29
Goals: 56, Against: 93
League position: 19th
West Ham United showed plenty of the fighting spirit demanded by Nuno Espírito Santo to come from behind and draw 1-1 at Everton. Playing for the first time under our new Head Coach, the Hammers put in plenty of effort and endeavour and were rewarded with a deserved point on Merseyside.
Hammers captain Jarrod Bowen became the first visiting player to score at the Blues’ new Hill Dickinson Stadium, curling high past Jordan Pickford midway through the second half to cancel out Michael Keane’s early header for David Moyes’ side.
In the first half, the Irons created half-chances but could not breach a home defence that had not conceded in their first three competitive matches at their new 52,500-capacity home on the site of a former dock. At the other end, we were initially seemingly sunk by an inability to deal with another cross into our penalty area.
Early on, Lucas Paquetá and Niclas Füllkrug saw shots blocked by Keane and Vitaliy Mykolenko, while the recalled German also saw a mis-hit shot and looping header both held by Pickford. At the other end, Moyes’ side threatened sporadically, with Beto and Iliman Ndiaye seeing efforts held by Alphonse Areola, but the French goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Keane’s header from James Garner’s left-wing cross flying into the roof of the net.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall went close to doubling Everton’s lead before the break from another cross, but his header bounced past the far post. Everton started strongly after the break, too. Crysencio Summerville did superbly to block Jake O’Brien’s shot then, at the climax of the same attack, Idrissa Gueye blasted over. With West Ham wobbling, Maximilian Kilman blocked one Garner shot, then Areola held a second before making a smart save to hold Garner’s snap-shot.
Then, out of almost nowhere, Areola’s clearance was allowed to bounce, O’Brien’s header to Pickford was short and then Summerville was denied by the England goalkeeper’s right knee. Two minutes later, West Ham levelled. Summerville and El Hadji Malick Diouf combined, the Senegalese crossed, Keane’s header fell to Bowen and his well-struck curler flew in off the Everton No5. It was the skipper’s 59th Premier League goal in 199 appearances in the competition since joining in January 2020. Suddenly, Everton were uncertain, and only a deflection off James Tarkowski prevented Bowen beating Pickford at his near post and putting the visitors in front. West Ham pushed. Dinos Mavropanos headed a corner over. Diouf shot high and wide.
Into the final ten minutes and Garner curled a free-kick wide for the home side after Mavropanos had pulled down Dewsbury-Hall. Nuno and Moyes stood on the edge of their respective technical areas, imploring their respective teams to find a winner. West Ham almost did, but Füllkrug’s shot was blocked. Everton almost did, but Areola saved Tarkowski’s drive.
In the end, while the Hammers could not replicate the achievements of 2007 or 2019, when we became the first visitors to win at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, we did become the first to breach Everton's defence at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium home.
Everton:
Pickford, O’Brien, Keane, Tarkowski, Mykolenko, Gueye, Garner, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye (Dibling), Grealish, Beto (Barry)
ARSENAL
Emirates Stadium
0 - 2
4 October 2025
Ref: John Brooks
Att: 60,181
Areola
Wan-Bissaka (Walker-Peters)
Mavropanos
Kilman
Diouf
Magassa (Potts)
Fernandes
Paqueta
Bowen
Summerville
Fullkrug (Marshall)
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Premier League Head to Head: Played: 59
West Ham United won: 10, Drawn: 11, Lost: 38
Goals: 47, Against: 116
League position: 19th
There was once a time when West Ham United supporters cheered every time Declan Rice hit the back of the net, though, it was Arsenal fans who roared after Rice, who swapped east London for north in the summer of 2023, put the Gunners on their way to a 2-0 Premier League win over his former side at Emirates Stadium.
On the balance of play, Arsenal deserved all three points, having dominated possession and created far more opportunities to score than their visitors. On a windy afternoon, Mikel Arteta’s side blew hard and only the brilliance of Alphonse Areola prevented them from blowing Nuno Espírito Santo’s newly inherited house down before half-time.
That came after the Hammers had created two very early half-chances, Niclas Füllkrug heading a first-minute corner over and Lucas Paquetá slicing a left-foot shot high and wide from Jarrod Bowen’s knockdown. Arsenal then took charge for the remainder of the game. Areola saved from Jurriën Timber and Viktor Gyökeres inside the opening quarter-hour, with Eberechi Eze somehow clearing the crossbar after the Swede’s initial effort had been scrambled off the line. Bukayo Saka was next to be denied, this time by the offside flag after he netted when Rice’s lofted pass bounced into his path off El Hadji Malick Diouf’s head. Arsenal lost captain Martin Ødegaard to a left knee injury, but still the hosts pushed. Wan-Bissaka and Diouf blocked shots from Riccardo Calafiori and Saka, before finally the pressure told on 38 minutes.
Saka and Martin Zubimendi – on for Ødegaard – combined to play in Eze. His shot was parried by a diving Areola and Rice followed in to convert high into the net from 12 yards. There was still time for Calafiori, who impressed in a free role, to drill against the inside of the post in added time, as West Ham went in at the break relieved to be just one goal down.
After a quietish opening to the second half, Nuno sent on Academy graduates Freddie Potts and Northern Ireland international striker Callum Marshall for his Premier League debut on the hour-mark in an attempt to inject new energy into his side. Their task doubled in difficulty seven minutes later, though, as Diouf was penalised for a foul on Timber that referee John Brooks deemed had continued into the West Ham penalty area, and Saka sent Areola the wrong way from the spot. The Irons stuck to their task in the closing stages but did not seriously threaten a consolation goal - Marshall's added-time header aside - and Arsenal completed a comfortable victory.
Arsenal:
Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori (Lewis-Skelly), Rice (Merino), Saka, Trossard (Nwaneri), Ødegaard (Zubimendi), Eze (Martinelli), Gyökeres
BRENTFORD
London Stadium
? - (??)
Date 20 October 2025
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Kick-off: ?:00pm
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Goals: ?, Against: ?
League position: ?
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