West Brom vs Arsenal, Premier League - as it happened
Re-live all the action from the Premier League clash at the Hawthorns
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal can end the year ahead of Tottenham if they beat West Bromwich Albion on New Year’s Eve with Arsene Wenger’s side looking to keep on the tails of Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool in the top four race.
With the Gunners 22 points behind leaders Manchester City and out of the title battle, a top four place is the best that the north Londoners can hope for in the league this season, and they will hope to pile further misery on basement club West Brom, who slipped below Swansea yesterday to the bottom of the table.
However, while the match represents the last of 2017 for both sides, Arsenal head into the new year with plenty of concerns surrounding their squad, with Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Özil and Jack Wilshere all out of contract in the summer and fresh reports that he could leave the club as early as next month.
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Post-match quotes from Arsene Wenger
On the late penalty decision that went against his team: "It's disappointing to see that but what can you do? You can talk and talk and talk. It doesn't change anything. The Premier League doesn't face up to the problem, nor of the schedule, nor of the referees.
"I would like to remind everyone that I did fight very hard with David Dein many years ago that the referees become professional, but their level unfortunately doesn't go up.
"It's difficult to accept. It's not the first time that it happens but it's best that we don't talk about it. We just have to deal with it."
On the introduction of VAR into this season's FA Cup: "It's time. I don't know why we want to be the best league in the world and wait such a long time when all the leagues use video technology already."
Quotes from Sky Sports
Post-match quotes from Alan Pardew
On the late penalty decision that went in West Brom's favour: "The decision is a tough one on Arsenal. We deserved a break and if we keep giving that commitment and effort, we'll get enough breaks to win."
On whether this performance was West Brom's best since he took charge of the club: "I think the performances against Liverpool and Everton were better. I think we went toe-to-toe at times (against Arsenal), but you can't go toe-to-toe all the time against a team with that quality but we got our rewards."
On whether he plans to delve into the transfer market in January: "I think we need to move something around. If I look at the history of teams in the bottom three, you've got to do some business just to freshen things up. We need to have some changes so I'll be working hard to do that."
On the interest in Jonny Evans from some of the Premier League's elite clubs: "There's been no bid for Jonny so there's no decision to be made."
Quotes from Sky Sports
Those quotes from Alan Pardew conclude our coverage of West Brom vs Arsenal and, indeed, our coverage of Premier League football in 2017.
Don't fret though, we'll be back tomorrow with coverage of the first Premier League matches of 2018, as Liverpool and Manchester United return to action.
See you on the other side!
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