Mikel Arteta hailed the influence of captain Alexandre Lacazette as he expressed his delight with his senior players after Arsenal's 2-0 win over West Ham.

Lacazette, who saw a second-half penalty saved by Lukasz Fabianski, wore the captain's armband on Wednesday after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was stripped of his captaincy the previous day following a "disciplinary breach".

Arteta's side dominated throughout and Gabriel Martinelli broke the deadlock after the interval with his seventh Premier League strike, Gabriel Jesus (16) the only Brazilian to score more times in the competition before his 21st birthday.

Substitute Emile Smith Rowe sealed the victory late on with Arsenal's 10th English top-flight goal scored by a player aged 21 or under in the 2021-22 campaign, which is more than any other side this season.

While the Gunners' young guns downed West Ham to move into the Champions League spots, Arteta praised his senior leadership group following Arsenal's 11th win in 12 league games against the Hammers.

"I think they were good all of them and the senior players led by example," Arteta told reporters. "We shared the goals. It's important for Gabi [Martinelli] to score a goal like today. Everybody, I'm really pleased.

"The players play for the club and the pride that we expect from them. I was really happy from the beginning, because we knew that we had to play really good today to beat West Ham."

Asked on the performance of Lacazette, Arteta added: "Well he's the next in line and he's taken [the captaincy], the way everybody played today with such pride and commitment. I'm really proud of it.

"Laca has always been like that in the dressing room. You see the way he acts with the young players, how willing he is to help. It's in his nature. He's not a selfish player. He's happy when he makes the rest better, and he's like that in the dressing room as well."

David Moyes has never won at Arsenal in 18 Premier League attempts, extending the record for the longest such managerial run in the competition without an away win against a single side.

Alongside Moyes' personal poor record, West Ham were also displaced in the top four by Arsenal, but Arteta insisted his side boasting a Champions League spot is irrelevant at this point of the campaign.

"No, because the league finishes in May," Arteta added when asked whether he was satisfied with Arsenal's top-four spot. "But it's much better than where we were, and we want to be higher.

"We need to find that consistency - we know the level of this league. This league is absolutely ruthless and tomorrow is always different to today, so let's prepare for the next game.

"When we went to Old Trafford, I think we played much better than last year but we lost the game - and that's where we have to come away from those grounds when we get the performance with the points. That's the next challenge."

Lacazette can be expected to lead the line, and perhaps team, once again at Leeds United on Saturday after Arteta said he had no news on the Aubameyang situation.

Jarrod Bowen insists West Ham "never know when we are beaten" after the Hammers came back from behind to earn a shock 3-2 victory over London rivals Chelsea on Saturday. 

Chelsea twice took the lead in the first half through Thiago Silva and Mason Mount, but Manuel Lanzini and Bowen netted equalisers before Arthur Masuaku's cross caught Edouard Mendy out at his near post and won the game for West Ham.  

Bowen explained the Hammers pride themselves on their spirit and never-say-die attitude - which has helped them to fourth in the Premier League this season. 

"That is what we are about as a team, the character, the belief," Bowen said to BT Sport after the game. "We hung in sometimes when it was difficult. 

"We never know when we are beaten, we went behind twice but showed that reaction and a lot better performance. 

"We wanted to be on the front foot and press them aggressively and not let them play, which they are good at. We wanted to limit what their game plan was. 

"We haven't won in a few games and have been disappointed in ourselves, but to come back and beat Chelsea, what a performance." 

West Ham manager David Moyes was critical of his side's performance despite the positive result, but praised the clinical finishing of his team, who scored three times from just five shots on target. 

"Truthfully, I didn't think we played that well today," Moyes said. "But we got the goals and in other games I don't think we played any worse or any better but we haven't got the goals. 

"Today we got the goals to go with it, and to get them against a team that don't concede many is a great credit to the lads. 

"We were much better [in the second half]. We were too passive and submissive in the first half. 

"They are quality, that is why they are European champions because of the level they can play at. Whether you press them or stay off them, they are very good at both." 

Moyes felt Masuaku was attempting to cross the ball and was lucky to see it go in for the first Premier League goal of his career. 

"I said to [Masuaku] that I thought it was a great cross," Moyes added. "It was very fortunate, the goal, but in football you need a bit of fortune sometimes. In the last few games we have lost it a little bit, but today we got it back." 

Liverpool cannot be considered as underdogs or favourites in the Premier League title race, according to Jurgen Klopp.

The early signs would suggest that Liverpool, along with champions Manchester City and league leaders Chelsea, will be the frontrunners for the title come May.

Liverpool have been in sensational form at times, recording an emphatic 5-0 win over Manchester United, though they do sit three points behind Thomas Tuchel's team after 10 games.

City, meanwhile, are two points further back than the Reds, though a win in Saturday's Manchester derby would see Pep Guardiola's side leapfrog them for the time being, with Liverpool not in action until Sunday.

West Ham, another of the league's in-form teams, host Liverpool at London Stadium, with David Moyes' team having won their last three top-flight matches.

Asked in Friday's pre-match news conference if Liverpool should be considered underdogs in the title race, due to the discrepancy in expenditure between themselves and their immediate rivals, Klopp replied: "Can I? I am not sure. We don't consider ourselves at all.

"We want to be in it, I think with the quality we have we should be around the top of the table, that's where we are, where we want to be, we have that responsibility and that’s how we see ourselves.

"We don't have to talk too much about the quality of Manchester City, the quality and depth of Chelsea, and we are not too bad of a team as well, so that's cool, but there are so many other good teams.

"I think the league made a big jump again. West Ham are incredibly strong, Brighton [and Hove Albion] are incredibly strong, Tottenham are 100 per cent coming back, Arsenal are in a much better place than last year, United is a top-class team, Leicester [City] are there, so look at the league, it's absolutely incredible.

"Everyone's under pressure. For us it's exactly the same, we fight for the Champions League spots and if you are in there it means you can probably fight for the title as well."

Recent history is on Liverpool's side heading into Sunday's game. The Reds have won four of their last five away league games against West Ham (D1) and are looking to win three in a row at the Hammers for the first time since doing so between 2003 and 2007.

However, only City (80) and Chelsea (66) have earned more Premier League points in 2021 than West Ham (62) - a total that already betters any previous tally set by the Hammers during a single calendar year in the competition.

Tomas Soucek's own goal saw West Ham pegged back to a 2-2 draw by Genk in the Europa League on Thursday, in Moyes' 1,000th game as a manager.

Moyes – who is in his second stint in charge of West Ham – has rebuilt his reputation after his ill-fated spell at Old Trafford was followed by poor performances at Real Sociedad and Sunderland.

"And he gets obviously better and better and better, that's how I see it. Even after 999 games there is space for improvement," hailed Klopp.

"I don't know if he reinvented himself, I don't know him long enough to say that, but it's absolutely incredible. Honestly, they are really good. I think everyone who watches them sees that.

"It's a highly energetic team, a counter-pressing team, a counter-attacking team but they play as well. There were almost moments in the past when you played West Ham, they defended deep, had to be really aware of set-pieces and counter-attacks. Now it's the full package, so rightly they are really high in the table, top of the Europa League group as well.

"They are in a good moment, it will be a really good game I'm pretty sure. They are in a good moment, we are in a good moment, that's how football should be before a game. I am really excited to play it."

West Ham boss David Moyes was denied a win in his 1000th game in management as Tomas Soucek's late own goal gifted Genk a 2-2 Europa League draw.

The Hammers thought they had won it when two second-half goals from Said Benrahma cancelled out Joseph Paintsil's early opener, only for Soucek to find the back of his own net in the 87th minute.

The Premier League side can qualify for the knockout stages with two games to spare if either Dinamo Zagreb and Rapid Vienna win the other Group H match later on Thursday.

Genk put an end to their losing streak at home, having lost their previous four home matches in all European competition – their longest ever such run in Europe.

John van den Brom's team took the lead inside four minutes when an incisive ball from Junya Ito found Paintsil, whose shot went in off the post after Alphonse Areola could only get a hand to it.

They never doubled their lead soon after as Areola was forced to save a Paul Onuachu header, before Ito sliced horribly wide after Paintsil pulled the ball back to him on a counter-attack.

Michael Antonio thought he had equalised a minute before half-time when he hit a shot under Genk goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt, only to see the ball cleared off the line by Patrik Hrosovsky.

West Ham started the second half brightly and were level after 59 minutes when Manuel Lanzini, Vladimir Coufal and Benrahma combined well for the former Brentford man to fire in.

Benrahma then got in down the left and slammed a shot past Vandevoordt again with just eight minutes to go, but a flick from Soucek from a dangerous cross looped over Areola and into the far corner to deny the Hammers all three points.

What does it mean? Hammers made to wait

There was to be no victory for Moyes in his landmark game, but the Hammers are still on the cusp of qualification for the knockout stage after four games.

They can be relatively pleased with going to a strong Genk side and getting a point, which was only West Ham’s second trip to Belgium in all European competition after a 1-0 win over KAA Gent back in September 1964 in the Cup Winners’ Cup first round, with Ron Boyce scoring the winner.

Where has this Genk been?

After an impressive 1-0 win at Rapid Vienna, Genk’s Europa League campaign stumbled badly with back-to-back 3-0 defeats against Dinamo Zagreb and West Ham.

The Belgians were a match for their English opponents here, though, having 14 shots with five on target, and very nearly equal possession (49.6 per cent). Play like this in their final two games and Genk will fancy their chances of still making it through.

Waste Ham

Even if a draw is not the end of the world, Moyes will still feel a sense of frustration after seeing his side waste numerous chances to win the game.

West Ham had 15 shots in the game, with 13 of those being taken from inside the penalty area and seven hitting the target, but only finding the net twice.

What’s next?

West Ham host Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, while Genk are also at home on Sunday as they face Cercle Brugge in the Belgian First Division A.

West Ham boss David Moyes was denied a win in his 1000th game in management as Tomas Soucek's late own goal gifted Genk a 2-2 Europa League draw.

The Hammers thought they had won it when two second-half goals from Said Benrahma cancelled out Joseph Paintsil's early opener, only for Soucek to find the back of his own net in the 87th minute.

The Premier League side can qualify for the knockout stages with two games to spare if either Dinamo Zagreb and Rapid Vienna win the other Group H match later on Thursday.

Genk put an end to their losing streak at home, having lost their previous four home matches in all European competition – their longest ever such run in Europe.

John van den Brom's team took the lead inside four minutes when an incisive ball from Junya Ito found Paintsil, whose shot went in off the post after Alphonse Areola could only get a hand to it.

They never doubled their lead soon after as Areola was forced to save a Paul Onuachu header, before Ito sliced horribly wide after Paintsil pulled the ball back to him on a counter-attack.

Michael Antonio thought he had equalised a minute before half-time when he hit a shot under Genk goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt, only to see the ball cleared off the line by Patrik Hrosovsky.

West Ham started the second half brightly and were level after 59 minutes when Manuel Lanzini, Vladimir Coufal and Benrahma combined well for the former Brentford man to fire in.

Benrahma then got in down the left and slammed a shot past Vandevoordt again with just eight minutes to go, but a flick from Soucek from a dangerous cross looped over Areola and into the far corner to deny the Hammers all three points.

Michail Antonio's second-half finish was enough to see West Ham past Tottenham 1-0 as the Hammers moved into the top four in the Premier League.

The two teams came into Sunday's clash on the back of contrasting fortunes in Europe, Spurs downed 1-0 by Vitesse while David Moyes' side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Genk.

It took until the 72nd minute for Antonio to break the deadlock at the London Stadium, his sixth top-flight goal against Spurs seeing West Ham move above their rivals.

West Ham, at least temporarily due to Manchester United facing high-flying Liverpool later, climb from seventh into the Champions League spots as Moyes' men continue to prove their quality.

Pablo Fornals' acrobatic right-footed volley forced the first save of the contest before the Spain international skewed wide as the hosts started the brighter of the two sides.

Son Heung-min responded with a low drive, one Lukasz Fabianski saved, after Lucas Moura had wastefully fired off target following the South Korea forward's offload.

Tomas Soucek then headed narrowly wide, with Fabianski subsequently producing a magnificent save to deny Harry Kane's headed effort on the stroke of half-time.

Tempers flared just before the hour-mark as Cristian Romero and Fornals clashed with one another in an otherwise somewhat uneventful start to the second half.

Fornals almost opened the scoring but his right-footed strike, via a deflection off Eric Dier, was tipped over by Hugo Lloris.

However, the Spurs goalkeeper was powerless to stopping Antonio from Aaron Creswell's resulting corner as the forward turned into the bottom-left corner from close range.

The visitors searched for a late equaliser but failed to breach the hosts' defence as West Ham made it three league games without defeat against their London rivals for the first time since May 2006.

West Ham manager David Moyes is refusing to get carried away with his side's perfect start to the Europa League and insists his goal remains qualifying for the knockout stages.

The Hammers made it three wins from three games in Group H after defeating Belgian club Genk 3-0 at home on Thursday, following victories over Dinamo Zagreb and Rapid Vienna.

West Ham are only the second English side to win each of their first three group games in a single Europa League campaign without conceding a goal, alongside Tottenham in 2013-14.

The last team from any nation to achieve this was Sevilla who eventually won the competition in 2019-20 but Moyes would not be drawn on any comparisons.

"I'm keeping relatively calm because we've got to go to Genk away and Vienna away," Moyes during his post-game news conference. "I'm not going to take anything for granted.

"I said I want to be in Europe after Christmas. That's my plan for this year. We need another couple of points to qualify, not to win the group but if we can get that it would be a great start.

"The players have done a brilliant job. They really have. We've not won any of them easily. They've all been tough. The games have been close, even though we've been the better team in all three of the games. We've got to keep working to get those extra points to make sure we qualify."

West Ham's first two goals against Genk came from set pieces, with Craig Dawson and Issa Diop heading home from Aaron Cresswell's free-kicks.

Cresswell has assisted eight goals from dead-ball situations in all competitions since the start of the season, more than any other Premier League player.

Dawson has netted five goals in all club competitions this calendar year, which is equal best for any Premier League defender along with Manchester City's John Stones.

Angelo Ogbonna nodded in the winner from a Jarrod Bowen set-piece in Sunday's Premier League win over Everton too.

"It may be more effective in European football," Moyes said when asked about his side's set-piece threat. "The Premier League has got a lot of strong defences, and attackers who can defend set-pieces.

"Up until Everton, I’m not sure we had scored this season from a set-piece, so it is not as if we have been doing it every game but thankfully we got the winning goal at Everton and tonight as well.

"Craig Dawson is excellent at it, Issa Diop gets a goal tonight from it as well. Our centre-halves are the players on top scoring goals at the moment so I am happy with that and long may that continue."

David Moyes defended his decision to bring on Mark Noble for the crucial late penalty after the veteran campaigner's miss from the spot cost West Ham a point against Manchester United.

In a dramatic finale at London Stadium, the home side were awarded a stoppage-time chance to get on level terms, after former Hammers loanee Jesse Lingard fired United into a 2-1 lead.

Noble is a spot-kick expert, having stuck away 27 of 31 previous attempts in the Premier League, but the 34-year-old had not taken a kick of the ball before being handed the responsibility of saving the game.

The substitute, sent on by Moyes after the penalty was awarded for Luke Shaw's handball, saw his shot to the right corner pushed away by David de Gea, who had conceded his last 21 penalties on league duty.

United held on for the closing seconds to see out victory, leaving Moyes with questions to face about the sense of his decision.

"I chose Noble to come off the bench and take the penalty kick because I know how good his penalty record is," Moyes told West Ham TV.

"Mark was brave enough, he wanted it, and so from that point of view there's no responsibility with him at all."

Moyes admitted West Ham lacked an obvious candidate to take the penalty, with captain Declan Rice having been poised to take responsibility before Noble came sprinting on.

"We just don't necessarily have someone who is a natural penalty kick taker. It is an easy thing to work on because you can stand and take penalty kicks in training ... but it's a different thing when you've got to go on the stage and do it," Moyes told a news conference.

The Hammers boss failed to complete a full season as manager of United in 2013-14, being sacked in April after struggling to live up to his billing after succeeding Alex Ferguson.

Since then, he has failed to earn a win in eight matches as a manager against the Red Devils, drawing twice and losing six games.

It was a cruel twist that it should be Lingard who scored the 89th-minute winner, and he appeared somewhat apologetic as the visitors celebrated.

Lingard revived his career during his spell at West Ham last season, scoring nine goals in 16 Premier League games. The England midfielder put a midweek Champions League blunder behind him on this occasion to give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side three points in the capital.

"Jesse got a second chance to bounce back as a player when he was at West Ham last year. We'll always be grateful for what he did for us," said Moyes. "I wish he hadn't scored, but we had a chance to get a draw out of it and we missed our chance."

Lingard's winner means West Ham have now had 47 players score both for and against them – excluding own goals – in the history of the Premier League, more than any other team.

Cristiano Ronaldo was denied two "stonewall" penalties in Manchester United's win at West Ham, according to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Portugal star got his fourth goal in three games since his return to the Red Devils in Sunday's 2-1 victory at London Stadium.

Ronaldo's first-half goal cancelled out Said Benrahma's deflected opener, with Jesse Lingard - who impressed on loan at the Hammers in 2020-21 - curling home a sublime winner after coming on as a substitute.

Ronaldo was floored by challenges from Vladimir Coufal and Kurt Zouma during the second half, with referee Martin Atkinson and VAR unmoved, but a penalty was given deep into injury time for a handball by Luke Shaw.

Mark Noble came off the bench but saw his effort saved by David de Gea with just seconds remaining.

Solskjaer had no complaints about the spot-kick given against Shaw but felt Ronaldo had been clearly fouled on separate occasions,

"The first and the last, I think are stonewall, you can't even argue against them," he told Sky Sports when asked about three penalty appeals for his side.

"Paul [Pogba] had a foul against him, Kurt Zouma: he didn't touch him but he went over him. So why is Cristiano's third appeal not a penalty? Hopefully it won't be that Cristiano's never going to get a penalty."

Noble's only touch of the ball was the penalty attempt clawed away by De Gea, who last saved a spot-kick in the Premier League against Everton's Leighton Baines in 2014.

"The thinking behind it [bringing Noble on for the penalty] was simply his record," manager Moyes said. "I'd have been more disappointed if I hadn't made the decision. I made the decision, and it didn't quite work today.

"We've given Manchester United a run for their money, the more we do that at this level against the top teams, the more we will improve as well."

Solskjaer was criticised for his game management in Tuesday's shock 2-1 Champions League loss to Young Boys, in which Lingard gifted the home side their stoppage-time winner with a loose pass.

He was delighted to see Lingard combine with fellow substitute Nemanja Matic to secure another comeback win and stretch United's unbeaten away run to 29 league games.

"Great goal, so happy for Jesse and he had a tough evening on Tuesday. He's knuckled down, worked hard again, been the same bright, positive lad. I'm so happy for him," he said.

"It's always difficult coming here against a West Ham team that's well organised. They're on their longest unbeaten run in the Premier League.

"We know we had to stamp our authority. First half, we had 60, 70 per cent of the possession. They got the first goal, but it's just a game that's waiting to open up.

"You can't take rests when you defend and we dropped into a back six, too many spaces, too late to charge the ball. We sorted and spoke about that at half-time. Great response."

United have now recovered 35 points from losing positions in Premier League matches since the start of last season, which is almost twice as many as any other side.

West Ham United manager David Moyes is not getting carried away despite his side becoming the first side in 14 group stage matches to win away to Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League.

The Hammers won 2-0 over the Croatian champions on Thursday after goals from Michail Antonio and Declan Rice, marking the club's return to Europe for the first time since 2016.

The victory comes on the back of an unbeaten start to the Premier League season for Moyes' side, who are eighth with eight points from four games.

"Coming away from home in Europe to Zagreb, which we probably see as being one of the hardest away trips, you have to say that it's a great job for the first time in a while that we've been [on this stage] and the players have done really well," Moyes said.

"Let's not get carried away, we've played one game in the group and there will be some really big sides that come into this competition once we get after Christmas time.

"That's why I keep using the term in my interviews: 'Let's see if we can have European football after Christmas'. That's what we want to do.

"We need to manage the group. Tonight we tried to manage a few of the players, and give a few opportunities as well to get players in the side and get them match fit to play.

"I thought all the players did a really good job tonight."

Moyes had special praise for Antonio, who has started the season in strong form, netting four league goals along with his Europa strike.

"Michail showed his qualities to get on the end of the chance for his goal and I was really pleased with him tonight," he said.

"You want varied goals, and he picks up on a bad back pass and it's his speed which can get him there. It was a really good goal and his play generally tonight was good.

"I like how he played and lots of the things he done, we just missed making more opportunities and we should have."

The Hammers take on Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday, although Antonio will miss due to suspension.

West Ham duo Michail Antonio and Said Benrahma created a piece of Premier League history on Monday as they once again made crucial contributions in a 4-1 thrashing of Leicester City.

The pair had been prominent in an opening-weekend 4-2 win over Newcastle United, with both recording an assist and also getting a goal at St James' Park.

They repeated the feat against Leicester and, in doing so, became the first players in the competition to both score and assist for their side in the opening two games of a Premier League campaign.

Benrahma set up Pablo Fornals to open the scoring, then doubled the lead shortly after half-time following excellent work by Antonio, who added a late brace after Leicester had pulled a goal back.

With his double, Antonio now stands alone as West Ham's all-time leading Premier League scorer, having previously sat level with Paolo Di Canio on 47.

Speaking after the game, West Ham boss David Moyes told reporters: "[Michail] has got a big personality, he's a big character, and I think he's probably just needed a little bit of real direction. But I think he's got it himself.

"I think his family life, his home life has given him something nice and steady. We've come in and given him a position where I feel he's playing really well.

"He's probably looking back and thinking, 'why was I not a centre-forward earlier? I might have scored loads more goals!'

"Because he's now enjoying the feeling. You can see what he thinks of it in his celebrations. I think he can score more goals, and this year, we're hoping that he can do."

Opposite number Brendan Rodgers, whose five defeats against Moyes rank as his worst managerial head-to-head record in the competition, was impressed by Antonio's performance

"Michail has finished his last two goals really well, and puts a shine on it," the Leicester manager said.

"Michail's performance was outstanding, he was strong and aggressive, but 'Cags' [Leicester defender Caglar Soyuncu] has had better days."

David Moyes signed a new three-year deal to stay on as West Ham manager on Saturday and declared: "This is where I want to be."

Linked with a return to his former club Everton recently, Moyes has committed his future to the Hammers, who finished sixth under his leadership in last season's Premier League.

That secured a Europa League place and West Ham's 65-point haul was their best in a Premier League campaign.

Moyes, 58, has also previously led Manchester United, Real Sociedad, Sunderland and Preston North End, and this is his second spell at West Ham.

"I am delighted to have committed my future to West Ham United," Moyes said.

"This is where I want to be and I'm happy. I'm excited to be given this opportunity to build on what we all have already achieved here. The owners and I are fully aligned with how we want to keep developing and improving the football club.

"The board and everyone at the club have been fantastic to work with, giving me great support and I feel that we are all united in what we want to achieve in the coming years and how we might be able to achieve those things."

Moyes pointed to "tremendous progress" during his second stint at the London Stadium, having taken charge in late December 2019 when there was plenty of scepticism about his appointment, many feeling his best days as a manager were behind him.

The Scot has shown his doubters to have underestimated his ability to turn around the team's fortunes.

"The players really have been superb but the challenge is for our standards to continue developing. We must keep pushing boundaries for consistent improvement as we all aim to continue the growing of the club," Moyes said.

West Ham joint-chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold issued a joint statement on the club's official website supporting Moyes' commitment, describing it as "fantastic news" that would ensure "great stability going forward".

Sullivan and Gold said: "The experience of the past 12 months has created a fantastic unity throughout the club and we are very excited about what the future holds for our supporters."

West Ham defender Fabian Balbuena has had his three-match ban overturned after an independent commission accepted his sending off against Chelsea was "wrongful".

Thomas Tuchel's Blues clinched a potentially vital win in the race for a top-four finish against surprise Champions League hopefuls West Ham, with Timo Werner's goal enough to seal all three points at London Stadium.

West Ham's hopes of pushing for a late equaliser were dashed when Balbuena saw red in the 81st minute.

While clearing the ball down the line on West Ham's right flank, Balbuena – seemingly inadvertently – caught Ben Chilwell on his follow-through.

Referee Chris Kavanagh initially booked Balbuena but, after consultation with the VAR, went over to assess the incident on the pitchside monitor and subsequently changed his decision to a straight red card – a call that infuriated Hammers boss David Moyes.

However, the FA has revealed an independent panel has deemed Kavanagh's decision to be erroneous.

An FA statement read: "An independent regulatory commission has removed Fabian Balbuena's three-match suspension following a successful claim of wrongful dismissal.

"The West Ham defender was dismissed for serious foul play during a Premier League fixture against Chelsea on Saturday."

As such, Balbuena will be able to feature against Burnley on Monday, as West Ham resume their quest for a top-four finish.

The defeat to Chelsea left them three points adrift of Tuchel's men in fourth.

West Ham manager David Moyes did not hold back in his criticism of referee Chris Kavanagh after the Hammers' 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.

Thomas Tuchel's team clinched a potentially vital win in the race for a top-four finish against surprise Champions League hopefuls West Ham, with Timo Werner's first top-flight goal since February enough to seal all three points at London Stadium.

It was a game not without controversy, however, as West Ham's hopes of pushing for a late equaliser were dashed when Balbuena saw red in the 81st minute.

While clearing the ball down the line on West Ham's right flank, Balbuena – seemingly inadvertently – caught Ben Chilwell on his follow-through.

Referee Kavanagh initially booked Balbuena but, after consultation with the VAR, went over to assess the incident on the pitchside monitor and subsequently changed his decision to a straight red card – a call which infuriated Moyes.

"I think it's a decision made by somebody who's never played the game," he told Sky Sports. 

"I don't know where Balbuena is meant to plant his foot. If they do make that decision then you look at the one a few minutes later which was the same – this time it was Vladimir Coufal and [Antonio] Rudiger – and it was a very similar challenge but they've never done anything about it.

"I don't know how it's a red card, I don't know where he's supposed to plant his foot, and you would only have to be someone who doesn't know the game, hasn't played it, to not know that he's kicked through the ball.

"I don't think for one minute there's a bit of malice in that, or he's tried to catch him. I thought it was a rubbish decision."

It was the second VAR controversy of the day in the Premier League, after Newcastle United's Callum Wilson had a goal disallowed for handball against Liverpool, albeit Joe Willock then struck minutes later to snatch a last-gasp point at Anfield.

Liverpool's draw means that fourth-placed Chelsea are four points clear of the Reds, who sit sixth, with West Ham in fifth.

Thomas Tuchel is unbeaten in all 10 away matches with Chelsea (W8 D2) and is only the second manager in Premier League history to remain unbeaten in his first 10 away games in all competitions with a club, after Claudio Ranieri with Leicester City in 2015, in the year the Foxes won the title.

The former Paris Saint-Germain boss was delighted with Chelsea's overall display, and that of goalscorer Werner, who squandered a great chance to make sure of the win in the second half, and Tuchel told his compatriot to keep up his form heading into the run-in.

"He needs to keep scoring and catch the moment. He is quite often involved in our goals, even in the last weeks, by winning fouls in the penalty area or with assists like against Man City. But nothing helps more than a decisive goal," Tuchel told reporters.

Tuchel is not wrong, with Werner having been directly involved in 20 goals for Chelsea this season (11 goals, nine assists) – the most of any player for the club in all competitions.

"I am very happy because I felt he was strong from the start," Tuchel continued.

"He was very good with distributing the ball, dropping from the number nine position and keeping the ball, he had good timing with his deep runs behind the line, and was involved in many chances and half-chances."

Jesse Lingard has opened up on how he pondered taking a break from football due to his struggles with mental health.

The attacking midfielder endured a difficult 2020 having fallen down the pecking order at Manchester United.

Off the pitch, Lingard's cared for his brother and sister while his mother – who has suffered with depression – received treatment in London.

Lingard spoke to entertainment show "Presenting" back in January, with the video released on Thursday, and he was asked if his personal struggles and those of his mother left him contemplating quitting football.

"Not quit football, just have a time out really," he said.

"I was going into games happy sitting on the bench and that's not me. I was telling my brother the other day: 'Remember when I was happy sitting on the bench and all this?'

"I didn't want to play because my mind wasn't there, I wasn't focused at all. I was thinking about other things and obviously bottling it all up; trying to play football, you can't do it.

"Through the years we had the help for her, but even just for me it's hard to bottle things up. It feels like you're not the same person. I felt like I wasn't Jesse Lingard.

"Even in football matches, I felt like the game was just passing me by, like I just didn't want to be there – it was crazy. So, I opened up to [Manchester] United and told them what I was going through, what my mum was going through and they're always there to help."

Lingard departed Old Trafford for West Ham on loan in January and he has flourished for David Moyes' Champions League hopefuls.

The 28-year-old has scored nine goals in 10 league games since joining West Ham, equalling his best return for a top-flight season set back in 2017-18.

Lingard also has three assists to his name, making him the quickest Hammers player in history to reach double figures for direct goal involvements, form that has seen him earn an England recall with the rescheduled Euro 2020 on the horizon.

He spoke about how the first national lockdown in the United Kingdom in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic helped to change his outlook.

"I could have easily quit in lockdown, been like: 'Nah I don't want to do it,'" he added.

"I could have easily given up but the fight in me always brings me back to life and in lockdown I was just smashing gym, doing runs. I wanted to get back to training fitter and faster than anyone else and I did that.

"I feel like lockdown has kind of transitioned me in a way. I watched my old games back and watched the World Cup games back and I thought: 'Yeah, that's the real Jesse Lingard.'

"The time that I had going a couple seasons back or last season, it just wasn't me at all and you can see that. My brother who lives with me, he could see that and he's got a video of me literally laying on the couch and I'm just staring for three minutes into thin air and he's just thinking: 'What is he going through? He's got the weight of the world on his shoulders.' And even he didn't know what I was going through at the time.

"I feel like with my mum and me I've learnt that when you open up you feel like a butterfly – you're in a cocoon and then you can spread your wings, you can fly. It's an amazing feeling and now I've got all that behind me and I can concentrate on football and my family."