LONDON — A late goal from substitute Eddie Nketiah gave Arsenal a 2-1 home win over West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday after Michail Antonio's first-half strike for the visitors had cancelled out Alexandre Lacazette's 50th goal for the Gunners.
West Ham were more organised playing with a five-man defence than in their opening 2-0 home loss to Newcastle United as they faced an Arsenal side fresh from a 3-0 win at promoted Fulham.
Arsenal vs West Ham Highlights
The hosts broke through in the 25th minute when captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, fresh from signing a new three-year deal, sprang onto a through ball down the left and chipped across to Lacazette, who headed past keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
West Ham levelled just before halftime with a brilliantly worked move from deep in their own half. Tomas Soucek ran the ball through the middle and sent a pass wide to Ryan Fredericks who whipped it into the path of Antonio to net from close range.
Antonio nearly doubled his tally with another tap-in shortly after the restart, but Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno got down at his feet to smother the ball right on the goal-line.
Instead, Nketiah claimed all three points for the hosts when he latched onto a Dani Ceballos layoff in the 85th, having come on less than 10 minutes before to replace Lacazette.
(Reporting by Hugh Lawson; Editing by Ken Ferris)
