On a night when West Ham's discipline turned the Emirates Stadium into a pit of frustration, the narrative moved away from Declan Rice and shifted to Konstantinos Mavropanos haunting his old club with a goal that raises further questions over the hopes of winning the title.
Arsenal were desperately lacking in conviction when a win would have taken them back to the top of the league. Mikel Arteta's side remain two points behind Liverpool and, perhaps more pertinently, only three above an apparently resurgent Manchester City.
Much more of this and the gap will soon be cut. West Ham, with goals from Tomas Soucek and Mavropanos, executed their plan to perfection. Victory, David Moyes's first in 73 attempts away to Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, moved them to sixth and was a justified reward for an immaculate defensive display. This was West Ham at their solid, committed best-time for Moyes to be given a new deal? - and Arsenal at their nervy worst.
Arsenal were under pressure after wins for City and Liverpool earlier in the week. They were full of urgency from the start.
The plan to get Bukayo Saka running at Emerson Palmieri - seemed like a good one. Even some early wastefulness from Saka, who shot straight at Alphonse Areola after being played in by Martin Ødegaard, felt immaterial.
Arsenal were making all the running, with Ødegaard at the heart of everything, and it was hard to see West Ham's low block holding out.
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