Premier League - West Ham take point off Arsenal

Eurosport - Wed, 21 Oct 18:15:00 2009

West Ham came back from two goals down to win an unlikely point in a 2-2 draw with Arsenal at Upton Park.

2009-10 Premier League West Ham Alessandro Diamanti Zavon Hines (PA Photos) - 0

Robin van Persie and William Gallas put Arsenal into a comfortable half-time lead but Carlton Cole's goal and a penalty from substitute Alessandro Diamanti pulled the hosts back onto level terms.

West Ham finished the game with 10 men after Scott Parker was dismissed for a debateable second bookable offence with five minutes remaining but the Hammers held on for a much-needed point.

Nevertheless, the result sees Gianfranco Zola's side remain second from bottom, once again two points behind Hull City.

Arsenal, meanwhile, move into third place, displacing Tottenham by virtue of a superior goal difference, but Arsene Wenger will again ask questions as to why his side failed to kill off the game during the second half.

Heading into the game, the Gunners were comfortably the Premier League's top scorers, having netted 27 in just eight games, the most goals that have ever been scored at this stage of a Premier League season by any club.

And that tally was bolstered by a further two before the end of an opening period which the visitors dominated.

From the outset, Arsenal were on the front foot and Van Persie had already threatened to break the deadlock on three occasions before he did find the back of the net on 16 minutes.

The Dutchman looked sharp in the early stages, but he was left with a simple tap-in for the opener following an error by West Ham keeper Robert Green.

The England hopeful, in front of the watching Fabio Capello, failed to deal with Bacary Sagna's cross and succeeded only in palming the ball to Van Persie, who gratefully knocked over the line from close range to register his fifth in six games.

In fairness to West Ham, they responded well to going behind and Cole signalled their intent with a header wide just after the half-hour mark.

But Arsenal's attacking prowess once again came to the fore four minutes later when Gallas rose above Cole, on defensive duty at a corner, to nod home and double the Gunners' lead.

After the break, a third goal would have killed off the game, but for all Arsenal's attacking ability, they seem reluctant to go for the opposition's jugular.

That lack of ruthlessness came back to haunt them again as West Ham staged an unlikely second-half comeback, sparked by the introduction of substitutes Diamanti and Zavon Hines (both pictured).

Diamanti was brought on after 55 minutes while Hines joined him onto the pitch 10 minutes later. Soon after Cole spun and fired over the bar to give the home crowd a real lift and hope that something could be salvaged from the game.

Sure enough, they pulled a goal back on 74 minutes, Cole applying the finishing touch after Diamanti's excellent free-kick was parried into his path by Arsenal keeper Vito Mannone.

Just five minutes later Cole tangled with Alex Song in the Arsenal box and referee Chris Foy, who had moments earlier turned down another penalty shout after Gallas appeared to upend Parker, this time pointed to the spot.

Diamanti held his nerve despite the best efforts of Mannone, who was booked for his attempts to distract him, and the Italian fired home.

Parker's dismissal, for an innocuous looking collision with Cesc Fabregas on 85 minutes, put paid to any hopes the home side had of nicking a winner and instead it was Arsenal who could have grabbed all three points as time ticked down.

And as the ball found Van Persie's head in the 90th minute, it seemed that Wenger's side would indeed come away from Upton Park with victory, albeit a much harder-fought one than initially expected.

But Green made up for his earlier error with a fantastic reflex stop and West Ham fans celebrated the point at the final whistle just like they would a victory.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport

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    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Mon 26 Oct 11:14AM

  2. hear hear pfy1101. Go on you Irons, just need a couple­ of wins and the table will start looking very­ different, lets keep that spirit going.

    From jim.baileyuk, on Mon 26 Oct 9:48AM

  3. This wa typical Arsenal winning 2-9 and cruising­ thinking they had already won and trying to showboat,­ they got everything they deserved in the second half.­ Why did Wenger insist on playing Manone in Goal, and as­ for Song and Bendenter I wouldn.t give them a game in­ the Championship, I have been a Gooner for 50 years, on­ this evidence we will win sod all as usual, but well­ played West Ham you deserved the point even though the­ penalty was very dodgy,

    Colin H Reading

    From Colin, on Mon 26 Oct 9:10AM

  4. west ham will be in the top four next seasonsorry i­ dont mean the premiership we are talking­ CHAMPIONSHIP
    HAMMERS ARE GOING DOWN

    From Thomas, on Mon 26 Oct 8:53AM

  5. Win 2 tickets to a premier match of your choice text GL­ MATCHTICKETS to 87070

    From gibson7201, on Mon 26 Oct 7:27AM

  6. credit to west ham, although mannone could have done­ better with the first goal

    From ryanho0001, on Mon 26 Oct 4:31AM

  7. Well done Zola and the team. I'm not a hammers fan­ but think the character to come back from 0-2 down­ against the best 'team' (rather than best­ players) in the Premiership is a huge credit to your­ spirit.
    Arsenal for me have a good shot at the title­ this year, Wenger's done a huge job there to­ produce a footballing team without breaking the bank.­ As a 'football' supporter i'd love to see­ them grab the title this year and show that huge­ transfer fees and salaries are no contest compared to­ quality management.
    For Hammers fans you'll have­ no problems finishing well clear of the drop zone and­ will enjoy upsetting a few teams at Upton Park. In Zola­ you've got an excellent young manager and with­ Steve Clarke as his no.2 you've got experience to­ go with it.
    Football in the capital is looking in good­ shape

    From pfy1101, on Mon 26 Oct 4:00AM

  8. worldcupworld2010 website can feck off .
    I was­ dissapointed with the Arsenal . quality in­ everyposition.Nasri should have come on earlier , more­ creative than Eboue Eboue is a wingback by trade but­ Wenger insits on playing all three (sagna , clichy and­ ebpue) , should have had Nasri on instead , more­ creative

    From ninja_king_returns, on Mon 26 Oct 2:19AM

  9. The Hammers have came alive after a long sleep....and­ they are all singing....The only way is up!!!!

    From ALBERT, on Mon 26 Oct 12:24AM

  10. The Hammers have came alive after a long sleep....and­ they are all singing....The only way is up!!!!

    From ALBERT, on Mon 26 Oct 12:19AM

  11. Nevermind ru4real. You are definitely a typical­ insufferable Arsenal fan. I don't understand this­ sense of gooner entitlement. Your last post was pretty­ much indecipherable.

    Spurs are not on your radar? --­ Yeah, perhaps West Ham and AZ should have been on­ Arsenal's radar.

    You know your history, but it is­ history no more? -- What does that even mean? Sounds­ like you are reaffirming the reality that several teams­ have closed the gap.

    Liverpool won with their sprite­ (sic) and conviction? -- I'm pretty sure the Reds­ won ACTUALLY against ManU. not metaphysically. They­ had more shots and corners won and they looked­ dangerous the entire game.

    You'll have your chance­ to prove your clear superiority next weekend at the­ Effeminates. Since Defoe and Modric will not be­ available we've even handicapped the match for you.

    From WilsonJet, on Sun 25 Oct 11:05PM

  12. this is the biggest load of @#$% i have seen, we lead­ at halftime and instead of killing the game we pass the­ ball around and look pretty, i had my hopes up but i­ hate to see this kinds of games we blow a title on­ stupid silly draws like these. Its time Wenger boys­ learn how to kill off team its just sad to see a come­ back where we literary handed Westham a life line.­ bloody @#$%

    From paul, on Sun 25 Oct 10:10PM

  13. I think arsenal's failure to go on and win in­ today's game shows that the manager can also be to­ blame sometimes even if he fails to accept­ responsibility. You're leading 0-2 and you make­ you first substitution in the 83rd minute and complain­ about your team's failure to kill the game??? come­ on!!!!!

    From spiritdotcom, on Sun 25 Oct 9:42PM

  14. Never mind Europe. Lets get out of the bottom half­ first.

    From TYGERZI, on Sun 25 Oct 9:34PM

  15. You should know Spurs are not on our radar, I know the­ history but it is history no more! Just like Liverpool­ record! I am disappointed that we had the chance to­ gain on united/chelsea and all the players over the­ weekend said they will not make the same mistakes but­ the out is the same, a tie! Unless you are an­ exceptional player like Ronaldo, you are not going to­ get many calls! In the last quarter of the game, the­ team had the same demeanor they had during the last ten­ minutes with AZ! Sad but true! Liverpool sprit won the­ game today not their performance, it was average! West­ Ham made an excellent comeback with great sprite and­ conviction! We had none!

    From ru4real, on Sun 25 Oct 9:24PM

  16. hopefully this is the end of west hams bad luck and we­ can push 4 europe again!:D

    From mick_aniaczebra_houston, on Sun 25 Oct 9:11PM

  17. i listened to the game on BBC radio, looks like the­ Hammers well deserved a draw or more

    From Rita, on Sun 25 Oct 9:01PM

  18. A BIG WELL DONE TO THE ­ HAMMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AS a gunner ­ am not happy with mr wenger for not freshing ­ the team after the half ??????You could only see ­ one result just like tues in the champions league­ ,arshavin looked off the game ,song& diaby keep­ losing the football in dangerous positions and we ­ paid the price for are stroolling ONCE again,well­ done to carlton cole as only him single ­ handlying took on the gunners .A NOTICE FOR NIC ­ BENDAAR (on how a BIG striker plays) and ­ he"s not that old compared to nic ­ bendaar.We just need a very good finisher for ­ are clear superioty but loose work effics .We ­ will win nothing if we let sides of the hook ­ this way, once again well done west ham,for ­ your luck in the penalty& never say die ­ attitude.COME ON ARSENAL get cracking .We could­ have being just 2 points from them bridge boys­ with a game in hand to go top of the league.For­ all those who wrote us off at the start of ­ the season ,ahhahaahhahaahha to you.GOOD football­ always rises like cream to the TOP.arsenal are ­ the best,its 3 points lost but lets brush ­ ourselves for the anfield mob on weds with the ­ future young guns. almost making the first team.

    From caxidon2007, on Sun 25 Oct 8:59PM

  19. This makes losing to Stoke doubly disappointing but­ good to see that ashburton wanderers are losing their­ steam. And Liverpool have pulled one out of the hat,­ good for them.

    From Paul, on Sun 25 Oct 8:58PM

  20. Guys it's always disappointing to lose the 2 goal­ lead and ending up with a draw. But let's give­ some credit to the Arsenal players - we can't win­ all the time. And this comment about no English players­ - what a lot a bu--sht! The team will bounce back -­ have faith. Rather than writing needless comments.

    From just lookin, on Sun 25 Oct 8:45PM
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