Arsenal travelled to East London to take on West Ham. Read on for Layth Yousif’s match report from the former Olympic Stadium

West Ham beat Arsenal 1-0 in East London on Saturday lunchtime.

Declan Rice grabbed his first goal for the Irons three minutes after the interval as Manuel Pellegrini’s side dominated this East v North capital city derby.

The startling revelation by Gunners boss Unai Emery this week that the club which has been listed No6 in the Delioitte rich list of sporting enterprises and which raked in a turnover of nearly £200m is penniless in this January transfer window raised many eyebrows.

The former PSG man looked highly unimpressed at his weekly press conference when he revealed the remarkable fact that the North Londoners would have to do with loan singings as they can’t afford to pay transfer fees.

The team reflected the downbeat mood during a poor first half in which they looked flat and lethargic.

Emery admitted as much in his post-match press conference saying: “We didn’t impose ourselves enough on the game.

“It was a bad result. We lost an opportunity to take three points and close on Chelsea and other teams in the top four.

“We needed to impose our ideas and we didn’t.”

The pick of his Arsenal team was Alex Lacazette who sent a half-volley wide of former Gunner Lucasz Fabianski’s woodwork.

This was prior to the former Swansea shotstopper blocking a close-range strike before the former Lyon striker heading over from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s cross.

Pellegrini included Samir Nasri in his starting XI with the combative Mark Noble captain.

But the home side did not require the latter’s tenaciousness nor the former’s creativity as the away side surrendered meekly.

The roar at the final whistle was proof West Ham are on the rise.

For Arsenal, harsh questions have to be asked – off the pitch as much as on it.

Follow Arsenal reporter Layth on Twitter @laythy29