West Ham United 0-0 Arsenal: How it happened

WHAT HAPPENED

We were held to a frustrating goalless draw at West Ham United on Wednesday, with Alex Iwobi’s shot that cannoned off the post the closest we came to making a breakthrough.

The game took some time to come to life as the hosts put men behind the ball and tried to catch us the break, but neither defence were giving anything away.

West Ham thought they had the lead on the quarter-hour mark when the dangerous Marko Arnautovic headed beyond Petr Cech – but the flag saved us after the Austrian had edged into an offside position.

We remained on the front foot, but found clear-cut chances hard to come by – until the 22nd minute when lovely interplay between Jack Wilshere and Olivier Giroud teed up Alexis, but his shot was deflected inches over the bar.

Iwobi had the only other chance of note in the first half when Alexis slipped the ball to the Nigeria international in the area, but his shot cannoned off the post and flew wide.

The second half nearly got off to a disastrous start for us as Mark Noble chested the ball through to Arnautovic in the area, but the West Ham man hooked his shot up and over the bar.

We responded well, and back we came with Giroud seeing a glancing header deflected just wide, before Ozil dragged a snapshot past the post as we upped the ante.

But David Moyes has revitalised this Hammers side in recent weeks and they posed a real danger themselves, with Nacho Monreal having to clear off the line from Arnautovic.

With 20 minutes remaining we had a big chance to break the deadlock as Giroud found Wilshere well placed in the area, but the midfielder flashed his shot over the bar.

Alexis tested Adrian with a well-struck free kick moments later, and while we continued to knock on the door there was no way through and we had to settle for a point from this London derby.

HOW IT HAPPENED

See how the match unfolded and check out some of the key match stats with our play-by-play commentary

WHAT IT MEANS

Following that result, we have fallen to seventh in the league table and sit on 30 points, one behind Burnley, Liverpool and Tottenham, who lie in sixth, fifth and fourth respectively.

WHAT’S NEXT

We’re back in Premier League action on Saturday when we host Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium.

WILSHERE WATCH

Jack Wilshere made his first Premier League start for us in 577 days against West Ham on Wednesday night.

Here are some of his key moments:

22 - Wilshere combines beautifully with Giroud on the edge of the area, and tees up Alexis whose shot is deflected just over

40 – Wilshere spins away beautifully from Lanzini but is hauled down by the Argentine, who is shown a yellow card

58 – Jack starts a move from deep as he pirouettes away from Noble and finds Ozil, before receiving the ball in front of the Hammers’ area but his pass just evades Iwobi

70 – Big chance for Wilshere as Giroud knocks a header down to him at the back post, but after taking a touch he flashes a right-footed shot over the bar