Theo picked up the ball inside his own half and did his best Forrest Gump impersonation as he kept running and running and running. He got into the box and unleashed a rising drive that clipped the top of the crossbar

Match Review – West Ham 0 Arsenal 2 – Premier League

As far as London derbies go, West Ham away is always a toughie. We may have decent form there, but it’s never a walkover and that certainly proved to be the case this time round. Whilst we didn’t dominate, we certainly had the better chances but it took the introduction of one Emmanuel Adebayor to finally turn the tide our way.

The aforementioned Mr. Adebayor began on the bench as Le Boss opted for a spot of rotation. Denilson sat this one out as Alex Song pushed forward into midfield to allow the returning William Gallas to step into central defence alongside his fellow Frenchman Mikael Silvestre. Naturally, “Capi” regained the armband from Manuel, who deputised so ably in midweek. I personally felt that the stick Gallas got for being pictured with a cigarette was over the top. Had it been Kolo or Cesc, we would have laughed it off and affectionately called them “rascals”. Whether or not Willy is the right man to lead the Club – and I’m not too sure either way – it shouldn’t hinge on his extra-curricular vices.

We began sprightly and had an effort on goal prior to West Ham even touching the ball. Theo broke free on the right but his cross-shot was straight into Green’s grateful arms.

The game then settled as the teams traded long-range efforts. Lax play by Robin van Persie in midfield saw him lose possession that led to Di Michele having a shot tipped over from 25-yards, before Bendtner flashed an effort wide from outside the box at the other end.

Although Arsenal had the majority of the ball, we were lacking in tempo. Passes were being made sideways and backwards, and the movement of the strikers was not helping the midfielders either. On a couple of occasions during the first period I saw Nasri pick up the ball and come inside. With Clichy reluctant to overlap, the situation was crying for Robin to pull wide and offer an option, but the Dutchman remained static and eventually things got overcrowded.

The game burst into life after twenty minutes. Theo picked up the ball inside his own half and did his best Forrest Gump impersonation as he kept running and running and running. He got into the box and unleashed a rising drive that clipped the top of the crossbar. Should he have squared it? Maybe, because Bendtner was wide open at the back-post. Nonetheless, I’m happy to see that Theo has well and truly got rid of the shackles that used to see him to defer to more senior team-mates.

The young Englishman came even closer five minutes later. Cesc deftly dinked a ball into the box where Robin chested it down for Theo to run onto, but from point-blank range the left arm of Rob Green saved the day. Whether or not Green should have been on the pitch to make the save is another issue as moments earlier he seemed to have handled the ball outside the box, but the linesman was in no position to make a definitive decision. In a way I was glad he wasn’t penalised and sent-off because trying to break down ten men would have made our task much harder: at 11 v 11 there was still chance that West Ham would over-commit and we would catch them on the break.

Instead, it was them who caught us on the break. Parker pounced on an under-hit pass to release Bellamy through the middle. The speedy Welshman held off Gael but his low effort was saved by Manuel’s outstretched left peg. The Spanglish One had an absolute blinder in midweek against Fenerbahce and pulled off another vital save here. Am I the only in thinking that he is developing into a world class goalkeeper?

His efforts were matched by Green at the other end, who saved well from Bendtner’s low curler after the Big Dane had cut in from the left. During a five-minute spell around the half-hour we had a fair amount of joy down that flank, with both Nicklas and Robin getting on the end of crosses from that area. Nicklas’ didn’t get enough purchase on his glancing header, whilst Robin rather scuffed a half-volley wide.

The second-half began in much the same vein: plenty of possession but lacking in penetration. That was to be expected because West Ham were well-drilled at the back and we cannot produce champagne football all the time. You sensed that we would have to dig deep if we were going to come away with all three points – something that many a pundit believe we can’t do, which is preposterous seeing as we lead the table for two-thirds of the campaign last year. Indeed, Upton Park was the scene of one of our first “grinded” victories of last season.

Both sides came close early in the half via corners. First Theo sent a header looping over the bar, and then barely a minute later former Gooner Upson bundled the ball straight at Almunia. Upson then nearly put into his own net following a teasing Theo cross but his clearance sailed over the bar.

Eboue was outpaced by Bellamy on the hour but his blushes were spared by some fairly desperate defending. Moments later it was West Ham’s turn to scramble the ball away as Theo’s pace once again was the source of all havoc. His cross was met by Bendtner whose effort was blocked, the rebound falling to Cesc who also had a shot blocked. Song followed up with a long-ranger that deflected over the bar.

Strangely, that was to be Theo’s last contribution to the game as he was hauled off for Ade, with Diaby also coming on to replace Nasri. Both our wingers had been replaced by a central-midfielder and a centre-forward: conventional wisdom would have seen AW keep at least one of our widemen on the field to stretch the play, but Le Boss’ decision was vindicated in the end. For all Theo’s pace and trickery down the wing, Ade would undoubtedly provide more of a menace in the box.

Indeed, Ade nearly scored with his first touch. Uncannily similar to Bendtner’s introduction at home to Spurs last year, the Togonator leaped to meet a corner but could only send it wide. With Theo off, Robin was shunted out to the right. While he would not provide any of Theo’s speed and agility, what he would do is cut in and shoot. He did just that on 70 minutes, a stinging low effort parried by the impenetrable Rob Green.

Barely sixty seconds later we won a free-kick in perfect RVP territory. I use the term “perfect” loosely because for all the threat he *supposedly* carries from such situations, thus far this season his end-product from set-pieces has been severely lacking. Not here though. His effort was struck sweetly as it beat Green all ends up before ricocheting off the post.

Was it going to be one of those days? It sure seemed that way. All that was missing now was a West Ham goal against the run of play to truly compound our misery.

The deadlock was finally broke with fifteen minutes remaining. And deservedly, the goal was ours. While Bendtner and Robin had done okay, both had a penchant for dropping off into the hole or drifting wide. Not Ade though. He received the ball to feet on the edge of the area with his back to goal, turned sharply before firing a shot away. It looked like it was going wide before Julien Faubert committed the ultimate faux-pas to turn the ball into his own net under little pressure from Bendtner. One-nil to The Arsenal, could we hang on?

Never mind simply hanging on, we very nearly extended our lead. A fantastic flowing move involving Clichy, the impressive Song, Diaby, Bendtner and Ade saw the Togolese striker’s toe-poke saved by Green before the man himself somehow skied the rebound from barely three-yards out. It was a beautiful move comprising one-touch passing and a couple of one-twos that was fully deserving of a goal. Nice to see Bendtner help Ade up after the miss: I have noticed a softening in their relationship this season.

Apart from a couple of penalty claims, West Ham offered no tangible threat during the remaining ten minutes. Credit for that must go to the defence, they all put in a good shift. So it was up to our Odd Couple up-front to seal the game in injury time. West Ham won a corner that we cleared (note: we actually looked capable at set-pieces). Bendtner picked up the loose ball on the left touchline before launching a raking pass through the middle for Ade. For once Mr. Bayor had used his nous to not stray offside as he loitered just inside the halfway line. He sprinted through on goal, rounded Green and sidefooted it home. Game over. Give him t’ball, and he will score.

It really was a fantastic assist by Bendtner. Last year I compared his fondness for dropping deep to the great Dennis Bergkamp. This year Mean Lean has given him the nickname “Smithkamp”. He certainly exhibited Dennis’ eye for a pass here. Given his ability to dovetail with almost any of our other strikers, he is an extremely useful asset to the squad and must be knocking loud on the door that is first-team regularity. A few more Alan Smith-esque goals would certainly do his claims no harm either.

The only remaining act of the game was a straight red-card for Carlton Cole. I personally reckon the sending-off was a harsh decision by the ref, and the way the Arsenal players seemed to comfort him rather than confronting him suggests that they may agree with me. Apart from the second minute where he turned Silvestre well, our defence had marshalled the powerful centre-forward pretty well. His late challenge was simply borne out of frustration.

The ref soon blew the final to signal a deserved victory; one which may prove to be vital in the grand scheme of things. With the Chavs finally losing their precious home record earlier in the day and the Mancs dropping points to Everton the day before, it is the Scousers who now lead the pack. A defeat here against West Ham – while not a fatal blow – would certainly have been massively damaging. Not so much because we would have fallen seven points behind the leaders (after all, the Mancs are even further behind), but more because it would have been our third defeat in only nine games.

Thankfully that scenario did not transpire and we now sit in fourth, a point off Hull(!) and Chelsea. Crucially, we are clear of the Mancs who we face in a fortnight’s time.

Overall I feel that the attitude of the players was spot on. To have to highlight this is not a good thing – it should be a given – but having seen the way we collapsed against Fulham and Hull it is vital that complacency and lack of concentration does not creep into our game, especially after a European game and before the visit of Mighty Tottenham in three days time.

The defending may not have been composed but it was committed and compact, and one can never complain when we keep a clean sheet. The full-backs seemed reluctant to overlap, perhaps wary of threat posed by Bellamy and Di Michele on the break. In the centre, Gallas bounced back well from “Ciggiegate” whilst Silvestre is regaining his sharpness. Not too sure if he has lost a yard of pace or not, but I’ll be honest and say that I am willing to sacrifice one speedy centre-half for an aerially sound one. That said, I get the feeling that Kolo will be restored to the lineup for the upcoming cauldron that is the North London derby. The defence had to be rescued on one particular occasion by Manuel who is looking increasingly like a super keeper. So much so that I reckon on form he is the best keeper in the league.

The midfield was so-so: the creative duo of Nasri and Cesc had an off day with numerous passes going astray, while Theo provided menace on the wing and came close to scoring a few times. He had his fair share of kicks but was never fazed as he just kept plugging away. The boy is becoming a man before our very eyes: these days a positive contribution by him is expected and not just the mere bonus it was seen to be in days gone by.

Up-front Nick and Robin had a decent stint, with both coming close at one time or another. Robin especially was unfortunate not to hit the back of the net with a howitzer of a free-kick, hopefully he can maintain some consistency from set-pieces and go one better next time. Nick’s pass for the second, as I have outlined above, was a joy. Yet neither were able to provide the physical threat and directness in the area that Ade did. For all the doubters who bemoan his supposedly poor conversion rate, what cannot be doubted is the outlet he offers.

By my Top Gun of the day goes to Alex Song. For the first time this season, Wenger opted to pair him with Cesc. The cardinal error that some people make is expecting him (and any other defensive midfielder) to put in an all-action Vieira-type performance where he can win 50:50 tackles, emerge with the ball, dribble past three men before sliding a killer pass through to a striker. Song will never do that all at once. What he can do, however, is get about the pitch, press the ball, cut off angles and make interceptions. Yes, he tends to keep it simple when he is in possession, but isn’t that a good thing? One might even say that he slows things down. But wouldn’t you rather he keeps the ball and passes is it on to a more talented team-mate instead of going for the deemed-to-failure Hollywood pass? In a way it’s like the Silvestre issue: sometimes we have to sacrifice a bit of flair and pace for some grit and power. Because it’s not the beautiful game in which we are lacking: it’s the ugly side that needs working on.

The win at Upton Park had fleeting moments of beauty and ugly. If we can continue to combine these characteristics, there is no reason whatsoever why this team cannot mount another serious tilt at the title.