West Ham United v. Arsenal 2-2 25/Oct/09

[Photo: Getty Images through Telegraph]


Just after a midweek draw, the Gunners went on again giving the lead and assuring one point, that tasted as bitter and harsh as a defeat. Arsenal dropped two more points in this London derby and the lesson seems not to be completely understood by these players. Zola's men, taking into consideration their effort, were outstanding in levelling a match that was won.
With this attitude this batch of players will surely not reach more than the fourth place: it is of the utmost care to see dividends and start waking up from the laurels in which, many of these younglings, are resting. One can think of a more dramatic or catastrophic ending if this were to be repeated once or twice against lesser or better teams.





Well deserved for Zola and his players.
[Photo: Mirror Football]



At the beginning it was the Hammers irregular response who gave the visitors certain facilities to score: the first was an obvious lapse of irresponsibility when Sagna crossed to find a free van Persie, who just pushed the ball in the back of the net. The mistake was that Greene made an early exit, missed the ball and stumbled Tomkins.
Reaching the 30th minute mark the resilience that the Gunners showed was by far extended to defend than their London rivals. The efforts by Sagna were shadowed by the huge amounts of possession the home team had for lapses. Then on the siege began for the Gunners. Strangely the Hammers had fairly decent runs of possession and chances, such as Cole header in the 33th.
Arsenal then doubled their lead in the 37th minute through Gallas. The Frenchman strolled past the home defence to head back. With five minutes on the clock the opposition locked deflated and defeated and well, there was no other way in which the Gunners could not triplicate their lead.




[Photo: News of the World]



It was difficult for any supporter, whichever side was, to think that this match could end with a two-goal scoreline, even though the Gunners made no approaches reaching the 60th minute mark. Throughout the previous fifteen minutes there was not a lot of action on either sides; Arsenal holding pretty decent while the Hammers felt as if defeated. Cesc nearly pocketed a long range effort in the 63th minute. It appeared as if the visitors had already learned their midweek lesson concerning the lack of focus when the goal arrived.
Cole finished Diamanti's freekick just as Mannone seemed to palm in and assist the Englishman, all that in the five-yard box. While Arsenal defended discreetly there was a certain strange feeling that the centre-halves were not proven sufficiently fit. Still the Gunners insistence worked as Green denied Arshavin in the 73th minute.
Apparently the Hammers were back on track with Parker's alleged penalty but instead the referee awarded the home team another one: Song tripped Cole and Diamanti levelled at 80th.
Bendtner substituted Eboue in the 81th. Even when the supporters thought it would be sane enough to see the end of it, the late show continued as Scott Parker was sent off. The drama kept even in the final whistle to see the two London teams share the loot.