ARSENAL SHOWED their resilience yet again over the festive period to beat West Ham 2-1 at Upton Park on Sunday.
After seeing off QPR after being reduced to ten men on Boxing Day, the Gunners rolled up their sleeves to deservedly take all three points in the East End.
With top four rivals Manchester United and Spurs playing out a 0-0 draw earlier in the day and both Chelsea and Manchester City dropping points, this was a vital match for both sides.
West Ham duo Alex Song – made captain for the day against his former employers – and Diafra Sakho were rotated out of the starting line-up at Chelsea but returned against Arsenal.
The Gunners were happy to welcome back defensive bedrock Laurent Koscielny who has been troubled by injury for most of the season.
Young gun Francis Coquelin made his first start for the north London outfit since January 2013. The midfielder’s chance came about as his manager attempted to stiffen up an Arsenal midfield and backline that has been porous to say the least.
The first period was all about the start and end of the 45 minutes. West Ham came flying out the traps and had the visitors on the back foot early. They almost cemented their superiority when Song fired home a long range shot that seemed to put the home side ahead.
Song turned for the centre circle determined not to celebrate against his old club. However, an assistant referee’s flag meant that his colleagues at least were left with no goal to acknowledge, only crushing disappointment.
Thereafter United dominated possession without unduly troubling Wojciech Szcznesy in the away goal. They were to pay a high price for not turning that advantage into goals.
On 41 minutes an Arsenal raid on the United penalty area saw Santi Cazorla tripped by Winston Reid after a mass tangle of legs. Penalty.
The Spaniard, with Alexis Sanchez leaving him to spot kick duties this time round, fired home to Adrian’s right.
Three minutes later and Arsene Wenger’s men doubled their lead. Yet another raid on the United goal saw right-back Mathieu Debuchy fire the ball across the Hammers box and there was the waiting Danny Welbeck to fire home with ease.
The half time whistle was greeted by boos from the West Ham faithful who were still dismayed by referee Neil Swarbrick’s penalty decision. Replays showed that the official was correct in his award.
The second half saw Sam Allardyce’s men up their game but all the while Arsenal were dangerous on the break.
Just nine minutes after the restart United were back in it when midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate nodded home.
At this stage the home support were in full voice as they encouraged their troops to get into the faces of Wenger’s sometimes brittle men. But the side from the Emirates are at last beginning to show their mettle.
They defended valiantly with Coquelin and Mathieu Flamini proving to be hard nuts to crack in front of the back four.
Once they had weathered the inevitable storm after the United goal, Arsenal showed they could attack too.
United custodian Adrian made brilliant saves from the influential Cazorla and the under par Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Welbeck too had chances to calm away nerves but was wasteful with the goal at his mercy.
Goal attempts by subs Kevin Nolan and Enner Valencia were the closest that Allardyce’s men came to gaining parity, but as was the case most of the match Arsenal rode their luck and defended as if their lives depended on it.
Some will say that the writing was on the wall for United; they have not beaten Arsenal since winning both meetings 1-0 in the 2006-07 season, triumphing at the Emirates Stadium in April 2007 and at Upton Park in November 2006.
It has been a happy Christmas for Wenger’s men while West Ham have had the stuffing knocked out of them with back-to-back losses to Arsenal and Chelsea.- Voice
Comments
About Author
