Basel boss claims West Ham were dominant during 5-1 defeat to Arsenal

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Arsenal face Basel in their final Champions League group-stage clash looking to try and secure top spot.

Basel boss Urs Fischer has seemingly attempted to rile Arsenal up ahead of their Champions League group-stage clash by suggesting that West Ham United dominated the two sides’ fixture at the weekend, which the Gunners won 5-1, the Daily Mail reports.

Arsenal took the lead after 24 minutes at the London Stadium through Mesut Ozil, but had to wait until the final 20 minutes to add to their lead with Alexis Sanchez scoring twice before Andy Carroll bagged what appeared to be a consolation for the home side.

Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez celebrates scoring

Nevertheless, Arsene Wenger’s men decided that they were not done as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain swiftly restored the three-goal lead before Sanchez completed his hat-trick shortly after.

But despite the emphatic victory, Fischer insisted that it was the home side that deserved the three points.

“Arsenal have that quality that even when you think you are quite good, they still score a goal. Alexis Sanchez didn’t have to score three goals for us to know he is an excellent player,” he said, as reported by the Mail.

Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil celebrates scoring

“I did see the 5-1 match – West Ham dominated that match. What I could see is that Arsenal have really dynamic movement and good forward runs.

“They are a very efficient squad. In the first half it was balanced, in the second half West Ham were the better team and were dominating the match. But then Arsenal scored and it changed so fast and made them pay.”

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic shakes hands with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

Although the group has been decided in terms of who will progress to the knockout stages – with Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain going through while Basel and Ludogorets are guaranteed to finish in the bottom two places – there is still plenty to play for during the last round of fixtures.

Both the top two and the bottom two are on the same number of points, so the group winner and the team that qualifies for the Europa League is still to be decided, which perhaps makes Fischer’s words somewhat understandable as he tries to get under the opposition’s skin ahead of what promises to be a tough night for the Swiss side.