Arsenal won’t go without a fight

Arsenal 3, West Ham 0:

More of the same from Sam Allardyce’s West Ham and their manager could be looking for a new job come May.

Monaco, who defended resolutely before winning 3-1 in north London in the first leg of their last 16 tie three weeks ago, will be a tougher proposition than the out of sorts Hammers, of course, but Arsenal have belief now.

They have won eight of their last nine league games and are through to an FA Cup semi-final having won at Manchester United and suddenly have a feeling that anything is possible.

That is clearly the view of forward Olivier Giroud, who was at the heart of this comprehensive Arsenal win, scoring the first on the stroke of half-time and playing a part in the deserved late goals for Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini.

Had it not been for some otherwise hesitant shooting and a decent display from West Ham goalkeeper Adrian then Arsenal would have won by many more.

For Giroud, who has battled back from a broken foot this season to score 14 goals and six in the last seven, Tuesday night’s return to his native France is also a chance to make amends for his uncharacteristic substandard finishing in the first match.

“We believe in our chance to go through and if we create as many chances as we did against West Ham we can create hope,” he said. “We are on a really good run. I think we learned from our mistakes [against Monaco] and we will go there with a lot of confidence.

“When I miss a game (play poorly), you know I try to bounce back as quick as I can and it’s true the boss gave me a chance to do it against Everton [in our next match]. I try to do it straight away. If you let the doubts enter your head, it’s even more difficult to cope.

“Football is a sport where you need to have a strong mentality because you have to face some difficulties. It’s like life. Even when you play well and score a lot of goals, if you miss in some games everything is forgotten.”

Manager Arsene Wenger, returning to his former club with his fellow French countryman admitted the pressure was on his star striker to produce.

“Yes,” he said, “but I believe more, above everything the fact that it’s in France will not be the most important. What will be the most important is that it’s the opportunity to go to the Champions League quarter-final and I think that is much more than the fact that it is in France — and, in fact, it is not in France!”

With a top four place looking increasingly likely for Arsenal, they can now set their sights on third place and even catching Manchester City, just a point ahead in second spot.

Giroud added: “We have our destiny in our own hands. We have to take the games one by one and we are aware of our strengths and we want to keep it up. We have some big games to play. We have a semi-final to play as well in the FA Cup. We know we have to do a fantastic job to go through in the Champions League. It will be exciting for us.”

West Ham also tried to talk a good game as they left the ground. Allardyce’s men have failed to win any of their last seven Premier League matches, losing six, and sliding from European contenders to mid-table mediocrity.

They have a chance to stop the slide with a home match against shell-shocked Sunderland this weekend and could finish in the top ten or better with a decent run-in.

Whether that is enough to save Allardyce remains to be seen. Many believe the straight-talking coach has already over achieved with this squad, but he is still to be offered a new contract for next season and left his post-match media duties to assistant Neil McDonald.

The deputy said: “It would be nice for that to be sorted wouldn’t it, yes, but the manager has stated it will be sorted at the end of the season and if that’s the way they do it, that’s the way they do it. If it’s affecting the players, I’m not so sure it is because the performances have been really good even though the results haven’t been brilliant and over the next four or five games we’ve got a great chance.”

McDonald pointed out how expectations outside the club were probably unrealistically high after the club’s flying start to this season. And they might have got something out of this match had they taken first half chances from Kevin Nolan and Matt Jarvis, but they were outplayed for most of a relatively one-sided match.

ARSENAL: Ospina 6, Chambers 6, Mertesacker 6, Koscielny 7, Monreal 6, Coquelin 7, Ramsey 6, Walcott 5 (Cazorla 72, 6), Ozil 6 (Flamini 83, 7), Sanchez 6 (Welbeck 65, 6), Giroud 8.

Subs: Szczesny, Gibbs, Akpom, Bellerin.

WEST HAM: Adrian 8, O’Brien 6, Collins 7, Kouyate 6, Cresswell 6, Song 7, Noble 6, Nolan 6 (Nene 82, 5), Jarvis 5 (Amalfitano 5, 75), Downing 5, Sakho 5.

Subs: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Onariase, Poyet, Cullen.

Referee: Chris Foy 6 (Anthony Taylor 60, 6)

Att: 60,002