Leandro Trossard’s name was being sung here and all over north London with glorious glee after his late goal sent Arsenal five points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Trossard struck in the 83rd minute but more drama followed when Callum Wilson had a 96th-minute equaliser rightly disallowed after a lengthy VAR check for a foul on goalkeeper David Raya.
Mikel Arteta’s side can now win the Premier League crown for the first time in 22 years with a home win over Burnley and three points at listless Crystal Palace in their two remaining games. That is assuming, of course, Manchester City win their final three fixtures too.
It had looked as though it would be a huge missed opportunity for Arsenal. Ben White was forced off in the first half through injury, but boss Arteta surprisingly opted to replace the right-back with Martin Zubimendi, shifting Declan Rice into the back four.
It was an error of judgement, and Arteta tried to make amends by sending on Christhian Mosquera for the start of the second half and sacrificing Calafiori.
But Arsenal struggled to create chances. They had not scored a second-half goal in any of their previous seven matches, so someone would need to step up to avoid losing the initiative in the title race.
Arteta tried to refresh his side by sending on Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard for the final 20 minutes or so as the below par Zubimendi, despite having brought him on earlier in the game, and Ebere Eze made way.
But it was West Ham who were presented with the biggest moment of the match up until that point, when Mateus Fernandes played a neat one-two with Pablo to go through one on one with Raya, who produced a stunning save with his leg to deny the midfielder at point-blank range.
A few minutes later, however, Odegaard worked some magic to set up Trossard for a clinical low right foot finish from inside the edge of the area to send the Arsenal fans into scenes of delirious celebration.
Some of them then walked out in shock, though, when Wilson hit the back of the net with 96 minutes on the clock. Hopefully, for their sake, they made it back in to learn the goal had been ruled out for a Pablo foul on Raya as the Gunners moved closer to a first Premier League title since 2004.
