Coquelin went off with a knee injury in the 14th minute after coming off worse in a tackle with Claudio Yacob, replaced by Arteta.
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The result leaves Arsenal fourth in the Premier League table, while West Brom climb to 12th with 17 points from their opening 13 games. I believe West Brom did fight with 100 per cent commitment as well and you have to give them credit for that.
Boss Tony Pulis said: “There’s been games here this year where we’ve been disappointed because we’ve lost”.
After five straight Premier League wins, Arsenal have picked up just one point from their last two outings.
Substitute Joel Campbell should have made it 2-2 midway through the second half after a brilliant pass from Cazorla, but the attacker mis-hit his shot as he tapped wide from close range. The Gunners would be perfectly happy with a repeat of their last match away to Albion, when Danny Welbeck got the only goal in a scrappy victory for a struggling side.
Giroud, along with France team-mate Laurent Koscielny, was named in Arsenal’s starting line-up after the trauma of being caught up in the Paris attacks eight days ago, in which 130 people died.
With West Brom on the cards, the favor is in Arsenal’s court.
Serge Gnabry will not be available due to the terms of his loan deal, though he has rarely featured under Pulis regardless.
Right-back Hector Bellerin is available following a groin problem, but midfielders Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey (both hamstring) remain out and forward Theo Walcott (calf) is not expected back for “one or two weeks”.
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We’re not sure as yet what the injury was, but frankly a bruised eyelash would probably have been seized upon as sufficient pretext for a change to have been made.
