Carroll treble frustrates Gunners

Playing away against West Ham is never easy and before the game I maybe would've taken a point and that's what we got following a 3-3 draw.

Whilst a point against the Hammers isn't too bad, it is very difficult to defend the manner in which it happened. After taking a commanding 2-0 lead we should have been able to see the game off far better than we did, so to then blow that and not come away with the victory was very frustrating. A two-goal lead should've seen our confidence increase and a much-better performance for the full 90 minutes, but instead Andy Carroll managed to net a hat-trick against us. It wasn't just letting a two-goal lead that hurt but the fact that West Ham levelled the scores with two goals in a minute. No team should be conceding two goals in such quick succession and it is inexcusable to have collapse like that.

With Leicester and Tottenham both winning our faint title hopes are now virtually over but, if we can win our game in hand, there is a slight chance we can at least salvage some pride by not allowing Spurs to finish above us.

The way things are going it doesn't look likely that we will catch Spurs but winning the game in hand would make the gap between us just three points so who knows. Whether we finish second, third or fourth, or lower, all lead to the same end result of no title and that is extremely frustrating. Credit to Leicester though, they are top of the table on merit.

The linesman flag twice denied West Ham inside the opening 15 minutes, with Manuel Lanzini flicking his first effort just wide of goal. The Argentine midfielder was unlucky to see his header ruled out for offside after nodding in from Carroll overhead kick.

Arsenal began to find their stride and opened the scoring after 18 minutes through Mesut Ozil. Arsenal saw a penalty appeal turned down after Nacho Monreal went down in the box, but play continued and Alex Iwobi passed the ball through for Ozil to send a shot into the bottom corner.

The Gunners tried to increase their advantage shortly before the half hour mark but Alexis Sanchez's effort was comfortably saved by Adrian in the West Ham goal.

Arsenal made no mistake after 35 minutes as Sanchez doubled their advantage with a well-taken finish from yet another Iwobi assist.

West Ham reduced the deficit as Carroll headed in Aaron Cresswell's cross a minute before the break, and the Hammers turn around was complete soon after as the striker fired in from a rebound in first-half injury time. What had looked like it was going to be a great day for Arsenal was quickly turning into a nightmare.

West Ham saw a goal disallowed for Carroll's foul on Laurent Koscielny early in the second half, but things soon got even worse for Arsenal when the forward completed his hat-trick by heading in Michail Antonio's cross after 52 minutes.

Arsenal tried to force an equaliser and very nearly got one through Monreal, but the defender's strike was cleared off the line. The Gunners did level matters 20 minutes from time though as Ozil and Danny Welbeck combined to set up Koscielny to fire a shot into the top corner.

Both sides had chances to win it as Arsenal substitute Olivier Giroud headed wide from Monreal's cross, while goalkeeper David Ospina palmed away an effort from Cresswell at the other end.

Arsenal wasted a half chance in stoppage time as Theo Walcott sent his cross straight into the arms of Adrian.

Despite facing tough opposition it felt a lot more like two points dropped than one pointed gained due to failing to make the most of having a commanding 2-0 lead.

OPPOSITION VIEW
West Ham fan Alex Saich felt a draw was a correct result and was pleased with some of the play coming from his side.

"Tactics from both teams changed when the news came through that Carroll would start after Sakho was rumoured to have stormed out the ground after a bust up with Bilic," said Saich. "Feeling around the ground before was wary but optimistic, a new feeling for us, normally it's just dread, but if we can keep Ozil and Sanchez quiet we will win.

"Two down early and all feared the worst, but then we started to play with a lot of width. Antonio, Cresswell and (Dimitri) Payet changed things in the first half for us. Good delivery into Carroll and we went in 2-2.

"The thing everyone knows with arsenal is when on form they're unplayable, but when it's not going their way they are quite average. Our work rate increased tenfold after half an hour to stifle the attacking risk.

"Going 3-2 up we knew we needed a fourth goal. The attacking play of Arsenal would force plenty of chances and proved so with the equaliser. I was impressed with their young centre forward and Lanzini, Antonio and Carroll excelled for us.

"Leaving the ground everyone was shattered never mind the players. Both had chances to win but a draw was correct...the less said about the ref the better, or I may say something I'll regret."

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
With no FA Cup to fall back on and our Premier League title hopes continuing to fade rapidly, this has become yet another frustrating season for us. Sometimes we can be unplayable and sensational and beat anyone in front of us, but then other times we can make the most basic of errors or simply fail to kill games of when we are on top.

We really are missing a world class striker, the type to bang in 30 goals a season, and that is one of the main reasons why we are sitting third and not higher up in the table. This will certainly need address over the summer. Iwobi has impressed in recent weeks and Giroud and Welbeck can be a handful on their day, but it isn't really enough. We need a WORLD CLASS striker and should pay what it takes to get one.

Without being disrespectful to our upcoming opponents, we should really be targeting maximum points and a 12-point haul from the games against Crystal Palace, West Brom, Sunderland and Norwich. The reality is that probably won't happen though, which is another reason why we are third. But let's focus on one game at a time and let's hope we show big improvement when we host Crystal Palace.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS