Report: West Ham 1-2 Arsenal
It took Arsenal staging a late comeback at West Ham to book a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Alessandro Diamanti had shot the hammers infront on the stroke of half-time but a dramatic final 15 minutes of the match saw Aaron Ramsey and then Eduardo keep the road to Wembley on course with a 2-1 victory.
Leeds’ remarkable victory over Manchester United earlier on Sunday encapsulated the drama that the Cup can still produce despite all its’ detractors.
But even the magic of the Cup and a visit from one of the ‘big four’ didn’t seemed to appeal much to West Ham’s fans. Faced with the prospect of watching two below-strength teams in freezing conditions they ignored their club’s pre-match appeals to turn out in force and left some sections of the stadium unusually empty.
It was Arsenal who made the brighter start and Robert Green was tested when James Tomkins carelessly gifted possession to Eduardo and he rifled in a low snap-shot that the England goalkeeper pushed away for a corner. Arsenal’s dominance was short-lived however as Zola’s side, working tirelessly to deny the Gunners time on the ball, took control of midfield.
Diamanti appealed for a penalty when his powerful effort hit Thomas Vermaelen on the arm, but the contact appeared accidental and referee Mark Clattenburg ignored the striker’s claims. Junior Stanislas went close for the Hammers with a dipping free-kick that just cleared Fabianski’s crossbar before Diamanti’s curling effort drew a good stop from the Polish keeper.
Vermaelen shot wildly over after Green spilled a cross and the Hammers made Arsenal pay for their erratic display in first half stoppage time. Valon Behrami played a superb defence-splitting pass to Diamanti, who ran clear on goal before sliding a low shot under Fabianski’s weak attempted save.
Zola’s team are hovering precariously just above the relegation zone, but they were easily matching Arsenal and Stanislas went close to increasing their lead with a fierce long-range effort that Fabianski kept out at full-stretch.
Wenger, searching for a way to reignite his side’s fire, sent on Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby for the last 25 minutes. The changes proved decisive. Diaby almost made an immediate impact as he surged onto Eduardo’s backheel and looked certain to score. But Green saved well from close-range and then recovered quickly to make an equally good stop to deny Alex Song from the rebound.
At last Arsenal looked a more formidable proposition. They pushed West Ham back and equalised in the 78th minute when Song and Vela played in Ramsey, who kept his composure to lash a fine finish past Green.
The momentum was with Wenger’s team now and Eduardo ensured there would be no need for a replay when he met Vela’s cross with a header that looped over Green into the top corner with seven minutes left.
That was quick Randy, you got a pic to post too, did you do it all on an iPhone or something. LOL
Fantastic comeback by the way after a very patchy start. Fran and JAck were terrible. Diaby was commanding when he came on. Rambo looked more assured with a few more seniors around him. God game by Fabianski too.
LOL, I’m always quick with my after-match posts.
Anyway, like I said after the recent Hull match, Silvestre’s lack of pace and naivety will keep him a big liability to our defence everytime he plays at left back. Only good thing is that if Clichy and Gibbs do return within an age, he will be nowhere near Wenger’s options.
For now, please remain our Messiah, Traore!
exciting game…was exciting before we even scored but once we did score we completely took over…good result but one hell of a tough draw to have to go to Stoke City
Of course fran and jack were terrible.The only reason ramsey is good because AW constantly gives him opportunities.The same isnt true for the other young guns
great final 20 minutes,i thought diaby changed the game when he came on,f*cking outstanding,bolton wednesday(which i am attending 🙂 we really should give them hell and go above utd and 1 point off chelsea,gotta sign a centre back this month what was silvestre doing for the first goal 2day he is in cookoo land plus,why the hell does wenger make him captain surely gallas can be captain for 1 game or vermaelen or sagna or wilshere or even merida anybody but that utd reject,he doesnt deserve to be leading our team out,sort that out arsene please
Wow, just saw the Ramsey goal! That kid is going to be amazing! Give him 1 more year of playing in these types of games and for breathers for Cesc and he’ll be prime. The best part, he is from the UK and will not leave or get pressure to leave from his home land team.
Cesc, can go to Barca in two years we can take that money and develop more youth.
This team is going to be amazing come the new year and will be in full stride once we get some more players.
Love this team and what will become of it!
Ps. Australia sucks, can’t watch any of the games here!
Hi there Harry,apart from the fact that the professor had programmed Ramsey for between 15-20 games this season,he has been forced to play him more frequently because of the injuries to Cesc.Also,both Fran and Jack were permanent fixtures in the Carling cup team which unfortunately got knocked out early.While i appreciate the desire to give these youngsters more playing time,it is difficult to do so at the expense of the established players.They have to be phased in gradually,and today was an example of that exercise.Pity they did not perform as well as expected,but the experience will certainly do them a world of good.I predict that in 2-3 years time they,along with a number of other young gunners,will be great players.The Arsenal player development programme is one of the best in the world.