Two headers by Craig Dawson and a Hal Robson-Kanu strike lifted West Bromwich Albion to a 3-1 win over Arsenal and piled more misery on their manager Arsene Wenger after a pulsating Premier League clash on Saturday. The result left Arsenal in fifth place with 50 points from 27 matches, five behind fourth-placed Liverpool who are at home to Manchester City on Sunday. West Brom stayed eighth on 43 points from 29 games.
Still reeling from a 10-2 aggregate defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16 earlier this month, the under-fire Wenger could only watch in dismay as a banner saying 'NO CONTRACT WENGEROUT' was flown by a plane above the Hawthorns. He was just as helpless in watching another dismal performance from his side, who conceded two goals from set pieces as sloppy defending cost them a chance to close in on the top four.
Dawson fired the home side ahead in the 12th minute after a Nacer Chadli corner before Alexis Sanchez gave Arsenal a ray of hope three minutes later with a composed finish from a superbly weighed pass by midfielder Granit Xhaka.
The opening half produced relentless pace and a string of chances at either end, as both goalkeepers were called into action several times. Arsenal's Peter Cech limped off with a muscle injury in the closing stages of the first half and that proved costly as his replacement David Ospina was at fault for West Brom's second goal. Robson-Kanu pounced on a mix-up between Ospina and an Arsenal defender 75 seconds after coming on as a substitute for Salomon Rondon to poke the ball into an empty net in the 55th minute.
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