Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney singled out ‘excellent’ Eddie Nketiah for praise after beat to move back into the places.
Arsenal saw north London rivals Tottenham move into the top-four with a 3-1 victory over on Sunday, but Mikel Arteta’s side .
The Gunners were not at their fluent best in east London and West Ham – with – equalised on the stroke of half-time after Rob Holding’s opener.
But fellow Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes headed home the winner early into the second half to maintain the club’s Champions League push.
While he did not score, Nketiah was a lively figure up top for Arsenal and Deeney was impressed and even taken aback by the 22-year-old’s performance.
‘I thought he was excellent, he did everything,’ Watford hero Deeney told .
‘A lot of the chances created were from his own doing. It was only his fourth [league] start [of the season] so to see that level of confidence was great.
‘The best compliment you can give him is that he kept Alexandre Lacazette on the bench, that didn’t look to him at any point.
‘He really got at West Ham and used intelligent runs. On another day he scores. He really grew in the game and showed a level of maturity I didn’t know he had at this moment in time.’
Nketiah, who made his Arsenal debut under Arsene Wenger in 2017, is out of contract at the end of the season and has .
Meanwhile, Arsenal boss Arteta was full of praise for his side after they ‘won ugly’ against West Ham.
‘You have to find a way to win and today we won ugly,’ he said. ‘We showed incredible spirit. We adapted.
‘You have to find a way to win all the time to win – forcing mistakes, being brilliant, digging in, clean sheets.
‘I am really happy, especially for Rob Holding as he hasn’t played the amount of minutes he deserves. He was man of the match today. He is always there when we need him.’
Arsenal face relegation-battlers Leeds United next weekend while West Ham will hope to overturn a 2-1 deficit when they visit Frankfurt in their Europa League semi-final in midweek.
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