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Manuel Pellegrini has struggled to show faith in Aaron Cresswell for most of the season, but the 29-year-old’s display against Arsenal proved once and for all why he should be starting ahead of Arthur Masuaku at the London Stadium.

The two left-backs have shared the responsibility throughout the current campaign, with the Englishman starting nine to the Frenchman’s 13, seemingly suggesting Pellegrini has not been sure who his better defender is; but that question has finally been answered.

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For sure, there were reasons for the question to exist with neither man offering consistent performances in claret and blue, and Masuaku particularly enjoying an attacking burst without offering anything in defence.

Those criticisms also fell at the former Ipswich defender, who was torn to shreds by the Hammers faithful after their side lost four in a row at the start of the season, with fans lambasting his decision-making after he failed to track back when his attempted crosses met no one.

Against Arsenal, however, the £50,000-a-week Liverpool-born ace put in a complete performance to shrug away the doubters, and recorded his best WhoScored rating of the season – Cresswell earned a 7.42 rating on Sunday, edging his 7.3 against Newcastle in December.

Only Man of the Match Declan Rice and Felipe Anderson tallied a better rating against the Gunners, with Cresswell able to cut it amongst the best having spent 3.4% of the match in possession of the ball.

Aaron Cresswell PIN graphic vs Arsenal

The 5 foot 7 full-back also completed 26 of his 33 attempted passes, including five successful crosses, with one of which leading to a key chance to test Bernd Leno, who only had to make two saves despite the hosts taking 11 shots.

To further cement his importance, meanwhile, Cresswell snatched possession back five times through tackles and interceptions and won each of his two aerial duels – only second-half substitute Andy Carroll won more for West Ham.

The test now for the 29-year-old is to maintain this level of performance against Bournemouth on Saturday and Wolves at Molineux to secure his spot in the side against Liverpool.