Ljungberg's 1st win, shining Pepe & Martinelli... 5 things in Arsenal's 3-1 win

Arsenal got the better of West HamUnited 3-1 at the London Stadium to end their barren run and accord Freddie Ljungberg a bit of breathing space. 

The victory moved the Gunners up to a ninth spot on the Premier League table and only a point behind North London rivals, Tottenham.

Here is a look at the talking points from the game.

Ljungberg finally has his first win as Arsenal's interim manager

Ljungberg's Arsenal stint started winless a 2-2 draw with Norwich to be exact.

He then followed that up with a 2-1 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, extending Arsenal's winless run under him and Emery to nine games, and it looked likely to be 10 at half-time on Monday.

But then something clicked for Arsenal and they gained confidence from Martinelli's equaliser, enough to score and second and third, earning the first win since they beat Vitoria in the Europa League on October 24. 

Now, a win doesn't immediately wipe out the problems Arsenal clearly have, that Ljungberg or the new permanent manager will need to work on, but it provided a starting point.

Bellerin & Tierney injury adds to Arsenal woes

Before the match at the London Stadium even began, Arsenal were dealt a setback as Hector Bellerin suffered an injury in the pre-game warm-up.

Consequently, the Gunners had to field Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the Spaniard's stead and install Sead Kolasinac as a substitute, despite the Bosnian earlier being left out of the squad due to a groin niggle.

And, the North Londoners' evening turned pear-shaped when Tierney picked up a hand injury in the opening 45 minutes. 

On first glance, the injury looked serious and might rule him out for the next few weeks. 

And, if that proves to be the case, Arsenal could find themselves in even more turmoil, something that many felt wasn’t achievable, considering their wretched recent record.

To put things into perspective, the Gunners, who are already missing the services of Rob Holding, might have to go into the encounter against Manchester City with their first-choice full-backs absent, meaning that their under-fire rear-guard might be put under extreme strife.

More worryingly though, if Kolasinac were to pull up stiff after the London Derby, Arsenal might have the unenviable task of calling upon a non-regular left-back.

Leno has only 2 clean sheets in 27 away games

What did Bernd Leno do to deserve this Arsenal defence? The German isn’t a bad goalkeeper, and on many an occasion he has bailed Arsenal out this season.

Prior to Monday's game, Leno had made 66 saves, more than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League, stopping 73.86% of the shots he faced. He added another three against West Ham but, once again, he was let down by his defenders.

Take nothing away from Ogbonna and his bullet of a header but Arsenal’s defending of the initial set-piece and subsequent scramble in the area was non-existent. West Ham were allowed to continuously win the ball with little challenge, first Noble, then Rice, Fornals and finally Ogbonna.

Fornals' cross towards Ogbonna wasn't exactly powerful, more of a measured lift, but the Italian was allowed to run onto the ball unchallenged to head home getting to it before Xhaka. 

It required a bit of good fortune on his part, deflecting off Maitland-Niles and wrong-footing the goalkeeper, but it was a goal Arsenal’s defending, but not Leno deserved to concede.

Turnaround for Pepe 

Arsenal's record-signing, joining for £71m in the summer, a lot had been expected of Nicolas Pepe but unfortunately, things just hadn't clicked.

The Ivorian had scored three goals in 17 games across all competitions prior to the West Ham match, all of which had come from dead-ball situations; a penalty in the Premier League was joined by two wonderful free-kicks in the Europa League. 

And although those free-kicks were excellent, questions were still being asked about Pepe's effectiveness on Arsenal.

These questions were raised as he fell out of favour towards the end of Emery's campaign and was left on the bench on Ljungberg's managerial debut against Norwich, with the Swede pointing to his poor performances in training. 

A substitute appearance against Brighton was followed up with a first Premier League start since the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at the end of October.

In West Ham clash, Pepe found an extra step and finally scored from open play with a curling effort having cut inside. It only added to Pepe's confidence and when he was eventually substituted by Ljungberg late on, he was smiling and shared a brief moment with the interim boss.

It still wasn't the greatest performance overall by Pepe, and he was helped by West Ham faltering, but this is a performance which could spark a turnaround for the winger.

Arsenal have a gem in Martinelli

Arsenal's season hasn't produced too many bright moments for their fans to get excited about. But one of those things has been Gabriel Martinelli.

Handed opportunities in the Europa League and EFL Cup under Emery, Martinelli had been excellent scoring seven goals in six appearances, including a brace in a bonkers 5-5 draw with Liverpool at Anfield.

However, until Monday night Martinelli hadn't started in the Premier League, with his seven previous appearances all coming from bench and amassing just 96 minutes. 

He started at the Emirates on the right of an attacking midfield trio alongside Pepe and Ozil and behind Aubameyang but had the freedom to move central when he could.

And it was through those movements that Martinelli finally got his first Premier League goal. 

It came at a time when Arsenal looked without inspiration or confidence but Kolasinac's run into the box and pull back found Martinelli in the perfect position to fire home the first time. 

A cool finish for the 18-year-old which started Arsenal’s comeback.

Whatever the future holds for the likes of Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal have a gem in Martinelli.