Arsenal vs West Ham United. Carabao Cup Quarter-Final.
Emirates StadiumAttendance44,741.
Wednesday 20 December 2017 08:50, UK
Arsenal edged into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup as Danny Welbeck's goal secured a 1-0 win over West Ham at the Emirates on Tuesday.
With both sides fielding almost entirely different starting line-ups from their goalless Premier League meeting less than a week ago, a largely uneventful encounter was decided by Welbeck's close-range finish in the 42nd minute.
The goal was the first that West Ham had conceded in 319 minutes and they could not muster any sort of response, failing to have a shot on target despite the introductions of Andy Carroll and Marko Arnautovic.
The win sees Arsenal, who lost Olivier Giroud to injury in the second half, move into the semi-finals for the first time since 2010/11 and they will learn their opponents in the draw on Wednesday evening.
Their quarter-final clash will not live long in the memory, with Welbeck's goal the only shot on target of a dour first half in which Arsenal controlled possession and neither side offered much attacking threat.
It took until late in the half for any chances of note as Sead Kolasinac fired over from the corner of the box and then Theo Walcott planted a diving header wide from 10 yards out.
The deadlock was broken in the 42nd minute when Mathieu Debuchy headed across goal and the ball fell for Welbeck to tap in from a few yards out.
Even though Arsenal rarely threatened a second goal, their slender advantage never looked in danger.
The hosts continued to dominate possession in the second half and the closest West Ham came was when Aaron Cresswell curled a free-kick wide.
Joe Hart was also untroubled at the other end, but even though Carroll added an aerial presence for the Hammers, they could not find an equaliser as they suffered their first defeat since December 3.
In a match where few players stood out, Willock, making only his fourth Arsenal start, looked impressive. The 18-year-old was composed on the ball and almost set up a second goal when he jinked into the box and played it across for Walcott.
Arsene Wenger: "I felt we played with quality and spirit and pace in the first half. For 90 minutes we looked solid defensively.
"Second half we lost a bit of pace and were less creative. So it was down to not making a mistake. Overall it's a positive night, other than we lost Giroud."
David Moyes: "We are making steady progress. We need to add quality, you could see that tonight, but you wouldn't question our honesty and determination. We were organised and made it difficult for Arsenal.
"We gave away a really poor goal. It wasn't an Arsenal-type goal and we should have defended it well. Up until the goal [Theo] Walcott had a chance with a header but I can't think of any chances before that or in the second half."
Arsenal's next two matches are both live on Sky Sports Premier League as they host Liverpool on Friday and then go to Crystal Palace on December 28. West Ham are at home against out-of-form Newcastle on Saturday and then travel to Bournemouth on Boxing Day.
