It was a night to forget for north London club sides as Arsenal and Tottenham suffered crucial defeats in the English Premier League.
West Ham stunned Arsenal to record a third successive Premier League victory, denting the Gunners’ title challenge in the process.
It was a ruthless display by West Ham, who converted two of their three shots on target, while Arsenal squandered a host of opportunities as they missed the chance to move top of the league.
Tomas Soucek fired in Jarrod Bowen’s cutback and, while the ball had potentially gone out of play in the build-up, there was not enough evidence for video assistant referee to overturn the goal.
That gave West Ham a first-half lead which was doubled when former Arsenal centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos expertly headed in a corner in the 55th minute.
Despite plenty of possession and pressure, Arsenal could not find a response.
And their woeful night was nearly made worse when Declan Rice gave away a penalty in the final minute of injury time, but Said Benrahma’s effort was saved by David Raya.
The result leaves Mikel Arteta’s Gunners second in the table, two points behind league leaders Liverpool, while West Ham end the year with 33 points – their highest total at the halfway stage in a Premier League campaign.
Meanwhile, A superb display saw Brighton overcome Tottenham in the Premier League at the Amex Stadium.
Spurs dominated the early possession but the hosts took control when teenager Jack Hinshelwood fired into the roof of the net after Joao Pedro was allowed to drift across the length of the 18-yard line.
Pedro doubled the Seagulls’ lead from the penalty spot after Dejan Kulusevski had pulled back Danny Welbeck in the area.
Brighton continued to press, with James Milner hitting the post and Facundo Buonanotte having a goal disallowed for offside, before Richarlison also clipped the woodwork for the visitors.
Spurs failed to have a shot on target in the first half but improved in the second period, with Richarlison twice seeing efforts ruled out for offside.
However, Brighton made sure of the three points less than a minute after the second of those when Pervis Estupinan fired a brilliant 25-yard dipping effort into the top corner.
Pedro added a fourth goal when he sent Guglielmo Vicario the wrong way from the spot again after Evan Ferguson was bundled over in the area.
Tottenham threatened an unlikely comeback after Alejo Veliz and Ben Davies pulled two back, but Spurs could not convert a string of other late chances.
The win sees Brighton climb above Newcastle into eighth, while Spurs stay fifth, a point behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
