Defeat to Arsenal overshadowed by injuries

West Ham's Saturday night 3-1 defeat to Arsenal was overshadowed by injuries sustained during the game, most seriously that of striker Ricardo Vaz Te. The Portugese forward dislocated his shoulder after a collision with the Arsenal goalkeeper, Vita Mannone and a heavy fall, which could keep him out for up to 3 months. 

Right back Guy Demel was also brought off with a thigh strain, which could keep him out for up to 3 weeks, and centre back Winston Reid was forced to play on with a back spasm after all of West Ham's subs had been used. 

Arsenal dominated the game very early in the first half, although it was Hammers midfielder Mohammed Diame who opened the scoring with a fantastic curling shot after performing a star run through the Arsenal defence (very similar to left back George McCartney's goal against Cardiff last season in the Championship). 

Unfortunately, Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud was able to put the visitors level merely a few minutes before half time after a defending error from centre back James Collins meant that Giroud could gently tap it past goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. 

West Ham did have a couple of chances before half time to pull infront once more, but an Andy Carroll header aimed directly at Mannone and a Kevin Nolan miss weren't enough to break the deadlock. 

Deep into the second half, the West Ham skipper had enough chance to go ahead, but Nolan couldn't take the chance after he sprung the Arsenal offside trap and allowed Per Mertesacker enough time to tackle and clear the ball. 

Substitute Theo Walcott then put the Gunners ahead when he latched onto Giroud's through ball to slide a shot around Jaaskelainen and Cazorla wrapped up the points six minutes later, with a stunning 25-yard strike.

England Manager Roy Hodgson also won't be happy after his promise that Andy Carroll wouldn't play the full 90 minutes was broken after the injuries gave Sam Allardyce no choice but to keep the on-loan Liverpool striker on the pitch. 

Arsenal's win is their 350th under Manager Arsene Wenger and also takes them up to fifth in the table, seven points behind leaders Chelsea. West Ham are eighth.