Trossard ends his 26-game drought as Arsenal grind past West Ham to stay five clear
Leandro Trossard ended a 26-game goal drought in the 83rd minute at London Stadium and Arsenal walked out of east London five points clear with two games left, surviving a stoppage-time scare when Callum Wilson's equaliser was ruled out for a foul on David Raya. After 22 years without a Premier League title, Mikel Arteta's side now need only to handle a relegated Burnley at home and a Crystal Palace side whose mind is half on Wednesday's Conference League final.
A Trossard goal that arrived just in time
For 82 minutes Arsenal had everything but the moment. Possession sat at 64 percent for most of the first half, Bukayo Saka was quiet on the right but kept Aaron Wan-Bissaka pinned deep, and the only real Gunners scare came when Ben White went down with an injury in the 28th and had to be withdrawn. West Ham defended in a deep block that asked Arsenal to be patient and the Gunners obliged without ever quite breaking through.
The goal, when it came, was Martin Ødegaard's. The Norwegian danced into a crowded penalty area, shielded the ball through two challenges, and waited a beat longer than the West Ham defenders thought possible before slipping a cut-back into Trossard's path. The Belgian struck it first time into the bottom corner past Mads Hermansen. It was Trossard's first goal in 26 appearances, and the timing turned it into something more than a personal milestone.
VAR keeps the lead alive
The four minutes that followed were the most uncomfortable of Arsenal's title run. Noni Madueke had replaced Saka as Arsenal closed out the game, but West Ham still had a final push in them. In the fourth minute of stoppage time Wilson rose at the back post and headed past Raya to level the scoreboard, and the London Stadium responded as if its season had just been redeemed.
The VAR check that followed felt longer than it was. The replays showed a West Ham player making contact with Raya inside the six-yard box before the cross came over, and the on-field decision flipped to a foul. The goal was struck off, the celebration was struck out, and Arsenal walked the rest of injury time out without giving the ball away. Whatever the angle, the West Ham bench did not get its replay long enough to be sure the call was wrong, and that uncertainty is the only kind of luck a title-chasing team really needs in May.
What's left of the title race
Arsenal sit on 79 points with two games to play, both at home and away combined inside two weeks. Manchester City, the only side that can mathematically catch them, have three left and a maximum of 83 points to chase down. Two Arsenal wins close the door regardless of what City do; any single dropped point from City reopens nothing. Burnley were relegated weeks ago and will be in holiday mode at the Emirates on the next matchday, and Palace host Arsenal at Selhurst Park on May 24, three days before flying to Leipzig for a Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano, a calendar collision Oliver Glasner has already begun navigating.
Mikel Arteta has spent two seasons answering questions about whether his team could find these results in May rather than March. The Trossard goal was not pretty, the Wilson VAR call was not clean, and there is no version of this title race where Arsenal will be remembered for sailing through it. None of that matters now. They have two games left, both winnable on paper, and a five-point cushion that turns the rest of the season into a finishing job rather than a chase.
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