West Ham 0 Arsenal 1 - Did VAR make right call on late 'goal'? Has Trossard put Arsenal too far ahead?

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London Stadium. With minutes to go in stoppage time, Callum Wilson scored, but it was decided, once referee Chris Kavanagh had a look at the VAR monitor, that David Raya had been held down while jumping for the ball. The win puts Arsenal five points clear of Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand, but even if they win that, Arsenal will be two points clear with two to play. Leandro Trossard was the hero with his goal coming towards the end of a tense afternoon. The result leaves West Ham one point adrift of safety, having played a game more than Tottenham (who play Leeds on Monday). Dan Sheldon, Roshane Thomas, Liam Tharme and Caoimhe O’Neill discuss the talking points. If Arsenal are to go on and win the Premier League for the first time in over two decades, and surely they will, then Trossard should be among the first players to lift it. Trossard, who had gone 25 games without a goal and was yet to score in 2026, stepped up when it mattered most for Arsenal. And it may prove to be the goal that kills off any chance of yet another Manchester City revival. With the clock ticking down and the pressure on Arsenal increasing, Martin Odegaard held onto possession inside the area long enough to slot a pass to the Belgian, who struck it first time into the bottom corner before celebrating by thumping the club’s crest on his shirt. City still have a game in hand over Arsenal, but even if they beat Crystal Palace on Wednesday, they will still be two points shy of Arsenal. Arsenal now just need to navigate their way past relegated Burnley and Palace themselves and the Premier League title will be theirs. The complaint was a foul on David Raya by West Ham forward Pablo, who had his right arm outstretched, and was viewed to be obstructing Raya as he left his line to try and catch or punch the corner. Pablo had got across Gabriel and had been attempting to win the first contact on Jarrod Bowen’s corner. West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen got free and almost won the header. Pablo’s arm was out and it did obstruct Raya, who got two hands to the ball but never held it cleanly, allowing Wilson to score on the half volley after William Saliba’s heavy touch presented a shooting chance. The contentious point is that Raya runs towards Pablo more than the other way around, and there was plenty of other grappling going on in the box. Martin Odegaard had hold of Jean-Clair Todibo and Declan Rice was wrestling Konstantinos Mavropanos. Tomas Soucek and Kai Havertz went bundling to the floor together. West Ham can make equally justified arguments for penalty shouts. Raya is one of the best goalkeepers in Europe for dominating his box and dealing with opposition corners, ranking third among Premier League No 1s for crosses claimed (40) this term. He’s also the second-most fouled (13 times) behind Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez. That commanding presence has been a deciding factor in Arsenal’s title charge and, with the help of VAR, meant Arsenal took a massive step towards the title. This is a huge blow to West Ham’s Premier League survival hopes. A draw would have seen them gain a valuable point to go level with fellow relegation contenders Tottenham Hotspur. But they remain in the relegation zone and the gap could be extended by four points if Tottenham beat Leeds tomorrow evening. Up until Trossard’s winner in the 88th minute, West Ham played with commitment, passion and desire which was lacking in last weekend’s loss to Brentford. West Ham had a poor defensive display in that encounter but they initially made amends against Arsenal. Konstantinos Mavropanos made a number of important blocks, while Axel Disasi, Jean-Clair Todibo, El Hadji Malick Diouf and Aaron Wan-Bissaka aided the resolute performance by keeping their defensive shape. The controversial end to the game with VAR ruling out Callum Wilson’s equaliser will only add to the frustration. Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo faces a huge challenge to uplift the players. When Ben White limped off injured in the 28th minute, Declan Rice slotting into the right-back position was somewhat of a surprise — even if he played there against Brighton & Hove Albion in December — given Cristhian Mosquera was on the bench. Instead of replacing White with Mosquera, Arteta turned to Martin Zubimendi and partnered him alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly, asking Rice to drop into defence. Arsenal immediately lost their control in midfield and went from dominating the first half — they had nine shots in 22 minutes — to allowing West Ham United to gain some momentum and arguably go into the break on top. By moving Rice into the right-back position, it also meant Arteta was partnering Zubimendi and Lewis-Skelly together for the first time in a competitive match, which certainly carried a risk. As well as altering the midfield, Arsenal were then also missing White’s off-ball running from right-back. Such was the obvious shift in momentum and error on the Arsenal manager’s part that Arteta brought on Mosquera at half-time and moved Rice back into midfield. This also came with its own cost, however, with left-back Riccardo Calafiori having to make way. Time really did stand still as West Ham’s Mateus Fernandez was played through by Pablo. Fernandez took two touches to set up what looked to be a certain goal. His third touch was a shot blasted in but Raya watched and waited. Flicking his leg at the ball, somehow and some way keeping it out. Raya, the man of the moment so often, has produced the goods for Arsenal all season and is the golden glove winner to prove it. But that save might bring the riches Arsenal fans dream of most. The save came five minutes before Leandro Trossard’s winner and felt like a monumental moment and so it proved to be. Sunday, May 17: Newcastle (Away), Premier League, 5.30pm UK, 12.30pm ET Monday, May 18: Burnley (Home), Premier League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms