Arsenal news: on Theo Walcott, Mohammed Elneny, Alex Iwobi and Alexis Sanchez

For football lovers, it was an interesting game and one of the best in the Premier this season. However, for Arsenal fans, it was one of those days that they failed to achieve their ambitions. The result was a blow to the Gunners faint title hopes, while West Ham now sit five points adrift from fourth position and a spot in the Champions League next season.

The Gunners threw away a 2-0 lead as well as potentially handing Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur a two horse title race in their final game at Upton Park, in a 3-3 draw with West Ham United.

Goals in the first half from Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez put the north London side 2-0 up and despite looking in control, Arsenal did what they seem to do best these days and gave away their lead.

Andy Carroll scored a late brace in the first-half before rounding off his hat-trick minutes into the second period of the game to the disappointment of the Arsenal supporters.

With momentum against them and a mountain to climb, it was Laurent Koscielny who saved the day with a well-placed effort into the top right hand corner.

West Ham may have to focus solely on winning the FA Cup rather than ploughing energies into their pursuit of the top four, but for the Gunners this remains another disappointing day. So what five things did we learn from the Gunners’ last ever trip to Upton Park?

Arsenal’s should forget about the title.

The north London club had a promising run-in, with five of their last six opponents currently in the bottom half of the table – but it will take a remarkable collapse from Leicester and Tottenham above them if they are to win an unlikely title.

Arsenal faced a huge task to overhaul leaders Leicester even before the game, starting the weekend 11 points behind the Foxes with only seven games left, but this draw could be the final nail in their coffin. It is not just dropping two valuable points, but also the loss of momentum gained by the back-to-back wins over Everton and Watford.

Theo Walcott has fallen behind in the pecking order.

I thought Theo was hard done by in term of his playing time initially, but Saturday’s game showed that perhaps he has indeed fallen down the pecking order. He spurned a few chances which is unlike him and he really didn’t offer much off the ball either. We still believe in Theo, but he will need to improve if he is to get back into the side. And it still remains a major question at the Emirates, if Arsenal should sell Walcott or give him space to full fill his full potential.

Alex Iwobi is a star in the making.

Alex Iwobi started for the third time this season and has had an instant impact. His link-up with Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez has made Arsenal a far more fluid side and he contributed their two early goals here.

He threaded the first into Ozil just moments after Lanzini’s strike was ruled out and then came inside, received the ball and clipped it over Winston Reid to play Sanchez in for the second.

He’s just 19 but his intelligence already appears lightyears ahead of Theo Walcott’s and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s in that wide role.

Peter Cech or David Ospina?

Peter Cech was expected to start at Upton Park after a calf problem, but Arsene Wenger kept faith with Ospina in goal. It is a matter for debate whether the veteran Czech’s experience and standing could have improved the way the Gunners defense performed in general, but one thing for certain is that he is unlikely to have done any better with the three goals Ospina conceded. The first one was a clinical header that flew past the Colombia international the second was a acrobatic left-foot volley and the third another header that was deflected past him off team-mate Gabriel.

Elneny is indeed a good asset for the gunners.

Mohammed Elneny has been brilliant for Arsenal, especially when partnering up with Francis Coquelin in the middle of the park.

He continued his good form against West Ham United on Saturday. He was strong in the middle, held the ball up well, and his distribution was promising.

He’s looking to be a really good and important signing for Arsenal.

Sanchez is gradually getting his form back.

Another positive from the game, is that Alexis Sanchez got himself on the scoresheet again.

Since returning from injury, he has struggled to meet the pace of the games he’s been involved in, but now he has a couple of goals under his belt, we should be able to see brighter performances from the Chilean.