Premier League - Adebayor inspires Arsenal

Eurosport - Mon, 27 Oct 09:38:00 2008

Arsenal finally broke down a resolute West Ham with two goals in the final quarter of an hour to record a 2-0 Premier League win at Upton Park.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Premier League Arsenal Emmanuel Adebayor - 0

Emmanuel Adebayor, a 68th minute substitute, proved to be the difference between the two sides; the Togo striker was involved in both goals.

First it was his teasing cross-shot that Julien Faubert put into his own net on 75 minutes before he notched one of his own following an injury-time breakaway to seal all three points for the Gunners.

West Ham - for whom Robert Green was excellent - fell apart at the game neared a conclusion and ended the game with 10 men after top scorer Carlton Cole was sent off following a lunge on Alex Song.

The victory saw Arsene Wenger's side stay in touch with the leaders and they ended the weekend one point behind Chelsea and Hull City and four off table toppers Liverpool.

The Gunners started sluggishly and had Manuel Almunia to thank for keeping the score at 0-0 after 10 minutes when David Di Michele unleashed a powerful first time drive that the Spanish keeper did well to tip over the bar.

But the visitors soon sparked into life as man of the moment Theo Walcott burst forward and fired a shot from a tight angle which crashed against the cross bar after 20 minutes.

The England winger should really have centred for Nicklas Bendtner in the centre, but such is his confidence at the moment, and considering his recent goalscoring form, it is difficult to begrudge him thinking he can score from anywhere.

But, Adebayor aside, it was Green who was to prove to be the most influential player on the pitch, the Hammers keeper making a number of important saves to keep the hosts at bay for 75 minutes.

His right to still be on the pitch to make those saves was, however, open to debate following an incident on 24 minutes that easily could have seen him sent off.

The man tipped by many to be a future England number one made a terrible misjudgement when he gathered the ball outside the box under as Bendtner threatened to latch onto a long ball through. Fortunately for him, and West Ham, the linesman had been unable to keep pace and kept his flag down.

It was a bad miss by the officials as Green went on to make a number of key saves, two of which came before the break to deny first Walcott and then Bendtner.

In between those stops, Almunia pulled out a top drawer save of his own at the other end, sticking out a leg to deny the speeding Craig Bellamy a breakaway goal.

Cole saw a header bounce wide of the post soon after the break, but West Ham were not to get much more in front of goal for the rest of the afternoon as the introduction of Adebayor inspired Arsenal to up their game.

The striker, who was overlooked from the start in favour of Bendtner, nearly had an immediate impact, heading wide from a free kick with his first touch.

Green was brought into action again soon after, Van Persie's powerful shot taking a slight deflection on its way through to test the keeper to his limits.

That time, impressively, he was equal to it, but there was nothing he could do moments later when the Dutchman crashed a brilliantly taken free kick against the upright.

Arsenal's pressure soon reaped rewards when Faubert slid in to meet Adebayor's cross-shot in an attempt to hook the ball clear; he only succeeded in diverting the ball past his own keeper and into his own net.

West Ham huffed and puffed in search of an equaliser, but despite the willingness of Bellamey, the strength of Cole and the guile of Di Michele, they lacked the nous to break down the Gunners defence.

And when Adebayor raced onto Bendtner's pass on a stoppage-time break to round Green and finish coolly into an empty net, the destination of the three points was put beyond any doubt.

There was still time for Cole to receive his marching orders as West Ham fell to a second consecutive home league defeat.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport

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  1. Are any of the arsenal fans on here actually English???­ Seems not by the grammar!! I thought the game was­ exciting and West Ham gave a good account of­ themselves. To be honest, Arsenal huffed and puffed but­ didn't really look very convincing, and got a­ fortunate lead.....I reckon Chelscum will breeze the­ league!!!

    Come on you IRONS!!!

    From Keith, on Mon 27 Oct 8:14PM

  2. This year arsenal has to win something or we could lose­ some of our best players i think we have a 50% chance­ of winning the Premier League and a 40% chance of­ winning the champions league but i think we can win the­ carling cup or fa cup Come gunners =D

    From rgold85, on Mon 27 Oct 7:42PM

  3. what an assist by bendtner for adebayors goal, he shud­ have got more credit for that
    ARSENAL 4 EVER

    From Ross M, on Mon 27 Oct 12:48PM

  4. ARSENAL IS SIMPLY OUTSTANDING.
    ANYWHERE, ANYTIME.

    From mrprince, on Mon 27 Oct 12:00PM

  5. good one from wenger and his terrific boys. gunners 4­ real till the end.

    From walexy, on Mon 27 Oct 9:58AM

  6. gunners 4ever

    From obiajulu.emmanuel, on Mon 27 Oct 9:23AM

  7. "liverpool are 1 of the best teams in the english­ premiership.arsenal are just good for nothing,with­ adebayor always showing off. Man u 4 life"

    A mutd­ fan complaining about a player showing off lol! Have­ you forgotten where does the best show-off in the world­ play?

    From NothingMan, on Mon 27 Oct 9:14AM

  8. nice 1 wenger! for d tactical approach yesterday...
    and­ 4 those of u dat dont no jack about football but come­ here to post comments!
    i,l educate u alittle bit....
    4­ resting adebayor yesterday- there,s a north london­ derby on wednesday which we cant afford to loose cos­ its more than 3 points astake. adebayor as always­ scored against spurs in every game 4 d past 2 seasons­ so he is a key man on wednesday and im sure he,ll do it­ again.
    Also 4 subbing theo cos its gonna b a high tempo­ game as well on wednesday. theo is another key man 4­ dat game.
    Lovely game yesterday cant wait to watch­ spurs crumble on wed. by the way lovely ASSIST from­ BENDTNER for the 2nd goal.... COME ON U GUNNERS !!!!!!

    From malik j, on Mon 27 Oct 8:43AM

  9. fack u 41 nmoty backing gunners

    From SHINYANGA, on Mon 27 Oct 8:36AM

  10. we are raedy to take the league, gunners for life... no­ doubt

    From odeniyi, on Mon 27 Oct 8:18AM

  11. Well, that was a really good display by the gunners­ again!!! im loving it. Now back HAMAD K, i want him to­ that football is a team game, how many Adebayor has­ contributed to a goal and didn't get any credit for­ it???????????? The answer it several time,and remember­ he came off the bench, so next time you wana say think­ twice about it before you put up here okayyyyyy

    From Dave T Amouzou, on Mon 27 Oct 7:50AM

  12. Behold the ultra majestic super Goonstables of yore!­ The West Hameronions were vanquished by the free­ flowing mega Gooners!

    From The Baboon Of Destiny, on Mon 27 Oct 5:49AM

  13. I think bendtner's long ball for the second goal­ deserves due credit. But adebeyor has no class as a­ human and forgot about the brilliant pass completely­ which he should have thanked him for. I feel bendtner­ is a better professional than him.

    gooner for life!!

    From Hamad, on Mon 27 Oct 5:42AM

  14. nothing makes these 3 points sweeter than seeing man U­ and chelsea crush! got the feeling the gunners will­ roll past chelsea! cant wait 4 it!

    From Ticha NYATEKA, on Mon 27 Oct 5:34AM

  15. nothing makes these 3 points sweeter than seeing man U­ and chelsea crush! got the feeling the gunners will­ roll past chelsea! cant wait 4 it!

    From Ticha NYATEKA, on Mon 27 Oct 5:32AM

  16. got the win got those 3 point GUNNERS for life!!!!

    From Mohd Sukri, on Mon 27 Oct 5:20AM

  17. yeah mr wenger really learning from mr rafa, as arsenal­ really need to rotate more than liverpool, because­ arsenal squad players are more limited than liverpool,­ west ham almost can held the arsenal with no sight of­ denilson..... mr wenger, pls dun do it again when­ versus tottenham, otherwise u and your team will­ suffer...

    From kathy, on Mon 27 Oct 4:27AM

  18. Brainless your name says it all. Up the Gunners

    From paul.j.richardson, on Mon 27 Oct 1:59AM

  19. blablabla...all the talking about man u are­ boring...for a clubs who below arsenal u sure talk­ big....we gunners will play beautiful­ football....gunners for life

    From HawtDaisy9, on Mon 27 Oct 1:59AM

  20. I COULDN'T WATCH THE MATCH AS I WAS BUSY ELSEWHERE­ BUT I'M EXTREMELY HAPPY THAT PROF ROTATED THE­ SQUAD. A SITUATION WHERE THE SAME SET OF PLAYERS PLAY­ ALL MATCHES, ALL SEASON OFTEN RESULTS IN A BURN-OUT­ PHENOMENON ESPECIALLY TOWARDS THE END OF THE SEASON­ WHICH WAS WHAT HAS COST US SO MUCH OVER THE PAST FEW­ SEASONS. ITS GOOD TO PLAY BEAUTIFUL SOCCER BUT WHAT WE­ NEED MOST THIS SEASON IS A GOOD SILVERWARE PREFERABLY­ CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OR THE PREMIERSHIP. WILL ALWAYS BE A­ GUNNER NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS THOUGH. GUNNERS FOR LIFE­ !

    From adewale, on Sun 26 Oct 11:52PM
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