Entertainment in the East End as Wenger’s Arsenal gets a well deserved
win over a tough and ebullient Hammers; 0-1.
Upton Park was packed and noisy
for this particular chapter in the London Derbies. With two wins over the Arsenal last season
the home fans were expectant and full of voice.
The away fans were no less enthusiastic.
Curbishly couldn’t pick the injured
Bellamy so went with Ashton and Camara up front; solidity in the middle was
provided by Parker and Noble with Bowyer and Ljungberg operating on the flanks;
Neil, Ferdinand, Upson and McCartney provide the defensive cover for
Green.
Wenger paired Togan, Adebayor
with Dutchman van Persie up front, Fabregas provide the midfield flair and
Flamini the grunt with Diaby and Hleb playing out wide; Senderos, Toure, Clichy and Sagna made up
the back four with Almunia in goal.
The start was frantic; both sides
struggling to settle although Arsenal had the early opportunity, Adebayor
firing wide from a Diaby cut back; Ljungberg gets in on goal from McCartney and
Ashton but is offside; Fabregas plays in Adebayor who is blocked and the ball
goes up field; too slowly for an offside Ashton; the game hasn’t slowed down in
the first ten.
Ashton gets his shot in after a
nice spin and shoot on the edge of the are but his aim is high; then the
striker loses the ball in a forward position; Toure gets the ball up field quickly
to Adebayor who holds off the defender with ease, he plays in Hleb who’s first
time cross is gift wrapped for van Persie.
West Ham; full of ideas and
running before going behind lose their way after the goal, Arsenal have the
better of the possession; although not dominant; and try to press for the
second.
Wenger kept his side out and
injury forced Curbishly to bring in Mullins at the half.
Minutes into the second Curbishly
is forced to make another change with Ferdinand out for Gabbidon.
Van Persie comes closest for
Arsenal; the visitors continue where they left off with more possession and
attacking guile, the Dutch striker gets the ball on the edge of the area and
with time to shoot hits the upright.
The Hammers come to life after
that shock; Bowyer delivers a great ball to the back post which invites an
equalizer; Ashton’s header is tame, straight at Almunia; poor effort with a
free header and the whole goal to aim at.
Ljungberg put the ball in the net
moments later but was correctly flagged for offside; despite the thoughts of
the West Ham manager who obviously had the best view of the incident as is
totally unbiased.
The traffic is still two way, Adebayor
drags his shot wide after a good run from van Persie at the heart of West Ham,
Green saves well again from the Togan and Gabbidon makes a great tackle one on
one with the effervescent striker.
On the hour West Ham is more
dominant but they tail off as the game ends.
They don’t have the class to unlock a solid Arsenal back line, Camara in
particular is pretty average, Ashton has half chances but with his confidence
gone he doesn’t trouble Almunia.
The best West Ham chance sees
Ashton’s head from a Ljungberg corner saved off the line from van Persie.
Three points for Wenger, his team
didn’t play that well but did enough to beat the Hammers; the sign o####ood
team and they maintain their grip on the Premier League with a win against a
side they couldn’t beat last season.
Ashton should have had a couple;
poor finishing let Arsenal off the hook somewhat. The home side didn’t lack energy and
conviction just the skill to unlock the current League leaders.
Alan Wiley isn’t the best referee
in the Premiership, so it goes to show, although Brooking was a good player he
knows sod all about refereeing.
Still; Trevor aside; the referee
had a reasonable game, a touch on the authoritarian side and the odd incorrect
or strange decision. Much better than
the dog’s dinner he had at Villa Park.
