Premier League: West Brom 2 Arsenal 3

Three errors from goalkeeper Marton Fulop handed Arsenal a vital 3-2 victory over West Brom at The Hawthorns on Sunday.

The Gunners’ win secured third place and Champions League football for the away side and ensured Roy Hodgson’s last game in charge of Albion ended in defeat.

The first half began in frenetic fashion as the Gunners took the lead through Yossi Benayoun.

However, the home side hit back through goals from Shane Long and Graham Dorrans, before Andre Santos benefited from another Fulop error and made the score 2-2, all within half an hour.

By contrast, the second period was a lot calmer and saw both sides defend doggedly without creating many clear chances. Yet another Fulop error, this time from a corner, handed Laurent Koscielny the chance to give Arsenal the lead, which he took gratefully.

Both teams started the first half brightly, but it was Arsenal who had the first chance in just the third minute. West Brom goalkeeper Fulop, on his Premier League debut, was indecisive as a pass came back to him from his defender, and Benayoun took advantage to take the ball past him and slot into an empty net.

However, the home team clearly wanted to give manager Hodgson the best send-off possible in his last game in charge, and in the 11th minute they drew level. James Morrison went on a weaving run through the heart of the midfield, and his through-ball found Long in acres of space.

Long placed his finish calmly into the net despite looking like he was running from an offside position and West Brom were back on level terms.

Just three minutes later, the home side found themselves ahead, with Morrison again playing a key role. His lofted pass found Dorrans, who skilfully flicked the ball over Koscielny and hit a shot on the half-volley past Wojciech Szczesny to give West Brom a 2-1 lead.

In the 29th minute, another disappointing effort from Fulop handed Arsenal an equaliser. The ball made its way to Andre Santos, and his speculative effort from just outside the penalty area found its way into the net despite the Hungarian getting a hand to the shot.

After what was a highly entertaining opening half an hour, the game eventually settled into something of a midfield battle, which neither could dominate, and the half ended with the score tied at 2-2.

The second half began in a cagier manner, with the game interrupted somewhat by an injury to Morrison that forced him to be replaced by Keith Andrews in West Brom’s midfield.

This changed in the 54th minute as Fulop once again proved to be problematic in goal. A corner came in from the left, and he could have caught the ball under no pressure from any Arsenal attacker.

However, he failed to gather the cross cleanly, and punched it into the path of Koscielny, who gleefully swept the ball home to give the away side a 3-2 lead.

The Arsenal defence then held firm as they held on to record a 3-2 victory and third place in the Premier League table.