November 01, (THEWILL) – Declan Rice’s homecoming to West Ham United ended in disappointment on Wednesday night, as the London club knocked his new side, Arsenal, out of the Carabao Cup. In Rice’s first match back at the London Stadium since his £105 million move to Arsenal, the Gunners succumbed to a 3-1 defeat to crash out of the competition.
The tone was set early on when Arsenal defender, Ben White, scored an unfortunate own goal to give West Ham the lead. Despite Arsenal protests over a foul, the goal stood and the home side were ahead. White tried to redeem himself at the other end, but his header was tipped over by Lukasz Fabianski.
West Ham doubled their advantage five minutes into the second half through a Mohammed Kudus strike. The Ghanaian winger skipped past Oleksandr Zinchenko in the box and fired through the legs of Gabriel to make it 2-0. Rice was introduced shortly after but could not turn the tide before Jarrod Bowen extended the Hammers’ lead, latching onto White’s clearance to lash the ball past Aaron Ramsdale.
The defeat ended Rice’s hopes of lifting the Carabao Cup in his first season at Arsenal. The 24-year-old England international joined Arsenal in a blockbuster summer transfer from West Ham, where he spent his entire career prior and also captained the club to Europa Conference League success last term.
Rice was given a largely warm reception on his return to the London Stadium, despite boos from some sections of the home fans. In the end, it was a night to forget for Rice and Arsenal, as West Ham marched on into the quarter-finals with an impressive upset. Martin Odegaard grabbed a consolation goal late on for the Gunners but it was too little, too late.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
