West Ham welcomed Declan Rice back to the London Stadium and then sent him and Arsenal packing with a 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat.
Rice, who captained the Hammers to the Europa Conference League trophy last season, returned to his old club for the first time since his £105 million transfer to the Gunners.
However, he won’t be lifting the Carabao Cup this season as strikes from Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen, along with an early own goal by Ben White, saw the North Londoners eliminated.
West Ham took the lead after 15 minutes when White accidentally headed Bowen’s corner past Aaron Ramsdale at the near post. Ramsdale complained that Tomas Soucek held his shirt as the ball came over, but with no VAR, the goal stood.
White attempted to make amends, but his header at the other end was off target. In the 50th minute, Ghana winger Kudus scored the second goal by collecting a long ball into the box from Nayef Aguerd, dribbling past Oleksandr Zinchenko, and firing a low shot through the legs of Gabriel and into the net.
Rice, who was the only goalscorer the last time West Ham defeated Arsenal in the Premier League in 2019, received a mix of boos and a standing ovation from the home fans when he came on in the 56th minute.
However, before Rice could get into the game, West Ham scored a third goal after Bowen collected White’s headed clearance and deflected it past Ramsdale via Jakub Kiwior.
Martin Odegaard scored a consolation goal with the last kick, but West Ham advanced to the quarter-finals.
