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Arsenal 2 Arteta 26′ (pen), 64′ (pen)
West Brom 0
- FT 90 +5
- HT 1-0
By Mandeep Sanghera BBC Sport
Mikel Arteta arrested Arsenal's recent slide as he scored two penalties to steer his side to a win over West Brom.
The midfielder's first spot-kick came after Steven Reid was controversially adjudged to have fouled Santi Cazorla.
The visitors thought they should have had a penalty for a Per Mertesacker handball but they struggled to create any real chances.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was fouled by Chris Brunt for Arteta's second and a first Arsenal win in four league games.
Lukas Podolski should have put a more convincing gloss on the win only to scuff a late shot horribly high from six yards.
For West Brom, it was a third straight top flight-defeat but they will no doubt point to the decisions of referee Mike Jones for playing a part in their downfall.
Victory will come as a relief for the Gunners as they battled to a result that moves them up to sixth from 10th in the Premier League.
Arsenal were watched by former striker Thierry Henry amid talk he could return to the club on a temporary basis from MLS club New York Red Bulls, but he will have seen a side a shadow of the title-winning ones he spearheaded.
The Gunners delivered an early statement of intent when Gervinho slid a shot narrowly wide but, despite dominating possession, Arsenal lacked the speed of thought and pass to break down
a Baggies side waiting for the opportunity to pounce on the counter-attack.The visitors' strategy almost paid off when Brunt bent a shot just wide before referee Jones awarded the home side a penalty after deciding Reid had tripped Cazorla.
The aggrieved Albion players had to watch on as Arteta, who missed a penalty against Fulham last month, put the spot-kick down the middle to beat keeper Boaz Myhill.
The visitors almost let in a second when Gervinho pulled the ball back for a lunging Jack Wilshere to poke an effort wide.
Albion again felt hard done by when a cross into the area struck the arm of Gunners centre-back Mertesacker only for Jones to reject their penalty appeals and give a free-kick against them.
At the other end, Arsenal were only denied a second when keeper Myhill palmed away a Gervinho shot and the same player should have done better from close range after being found by fellow forward Olivier Giroud's chipped pass.
The Gunners needed another spot-kick to give them some breathing space, with Brunt penalised for a foul on Oxlade-Chamberlain.
While there was little complaint at the award of the penalty, the Baggies believed Oxlade-Chamberlain should have been penalised for a shove on Goran Popov in the build-up.
The Baggies threw on Romelu Lukaku and Markus Rosenborg to join Shane Long in attack and, while the former headed wide, they rarely looked like mounting a comeback as Arsenal earned a much-needed win.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20564961
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