But Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge in the absence of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka was exposed when Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s pin-point cross was headed in by Jarrod Bowen in the 44th minute.
There was more misery for Arsenal in the 73rd minute when Lewis-Skelly brought down Mohammed Kudus as the West Ham forward surged away on the halfway line.
Lewis-Skelly was initially shown a yellow card but the defender’s punishment was increased to a red after referee Craig Pawson consulted the pitchside monitor.
“We started the game and we never got a grip of it. We didn’t generate a threat or momentum,” Arteta said.
“It is painful but this is sport. We need to feel the pain today, I think we deserve that.”
At Goodison Park, Manchester United were headed for a ninth defeat in their last 13 league games as goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure put Everton two up inside 33 minutes.
Ruben Amorim’s team had not mustered a shot on target until Fernandes' free-kick pulled a goal back 18 minutes from time before Manuel Ugarte’s equaliser salvaged a point.
More late drama was to come as Everton were awarded a penalty deep into stoppage-time, only for referee Andy Madley to overturn his decision after a VAR review.
“We just played one half and we managed to draw the game. We didn’t exist in the first half,” Amorim said after his 15th-placed side’s dismal run extended to just four wins in 15 league games.
Spurs back on track
Tottenham eased the pressure on boss Ange Postecoglou with a 4-1 win at third-bottom Ipswich.
Brennan Johnson put Tottenham ahead in the 18th minute with a tap-in from Son Heung-min’s cutback.
Johnson was on target again eight minutes later, netting with a clinical strike from another Son assist.
Omari Hutchinson pulled one back for Ipswich in the 36th minute.
But Djed Spence’s deflected 77th-minute shot and Dejan Kulusevski’s 84th-minute finish wrapped up Tottenham’s second successive victory.
Wolves boosted their survival bid with a priceless 1-0 win at 10-man Bournemouth.
Bournemouth had Illia Zabarnyi sent off late in the first half when his foul by Rayan Ait-Nouri was upgraded from a yellow to red card after VAR intervened.
Wolves took advantage in the 36th minute as Nelson Semedo’s cross was missed by Dean Huijsen and Matheus Cunha steered his shot past Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Vitor Pereira’s team are now five points clear of the relegation zone as fifth-placed Bournemouth’s top-four hopes suffered a setback.
Joachim Andersen’s own goal put his former club Crystal Palace on course for a 2-0 win at Fulham.
Daniel Munoz’s 66th-minute blast wrapped up Palace’s latest success on the road.
Southampton slipped closer to relegation after a 4-0 defeat against south-coast rivals Brighton at St Mary’s.
Joao Pedro, Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood’s 82nd-minute effort condemned bottom-of-the-table Southampton to a 21st defeat in 26 league games this season.
Southampton are 13 points from safety with 12 games left to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
