Arsenal 0-0 West Ham – Premiership Live Blog – 31 January 2009

Two of London’s Premier League rivals get set to square off here, as fifth-place Arsenal get set to host a West Ham side that has been rejuvenated of late under Gianfranco Zola.

Match Preview

As the season wanes, each game is starting to take on more and more importance for Arsenal, as they attempt to salvage their season with a top-four finish and a return to Champions League play. As it stands, the Gunners are in the midst of a streak of nine games unbeaten, even though Arsenal have still looked spotty for much of that span. Most recently, the Gunners salvaged a draw at midweek at Everton thanks to a Robin van Persie injury time equalizer. West Ham, meanwhile, have looked especially dangerous of late. Arsene Wenger went as far as to call the Hammers the most in form team in the Premier League at the moment, as Zola’s men have propelled themselves into the top half of the Premier League table.

Which side side will prevail at the Emirates today? Stay tuned for live updates.

Line Ups

West Ham: R. Green, L. Neill (C), J. Collins, M. Upson, N. H. Ilunga, V. Behrami, M. Noble, S. Parker, J. Collison, D. D. Michele, C. Cole

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Toure (C), Gallas, Clichy, Eboue, Denilson, Diaby, Nasri, Adebayor, Bendtner

Live Blog

Full time And there’s the whistle. Bitter disappointment for Arsenal, who can feel their chance at a top four slot slipping further and further away. Andrei Arshavin might be on the way, but you have to wonder if even that will be enough for the Gunners.

90 + 4′ Foul called on Arsenal in the scrum in the box. That should be enough for West Ham.

90 + 4′ Arsenal win a corner here. One last chance.

90 + 3′ Adebayor squares to van Persie in the box, and the Dutch forward tries to turn and have a shot, but he can’t find the magic touch this time, and it rolls harmlessly across the goal and out of touch. Could that be Arsenal’s last chance?

90 + 1′ Arsenal wins a free kick from about 40 yards out and van Persie takes it. Green comes out and punches it away though. Arsenal keeping the pressure on.

89′ Diaby is down in midfield clutching his leg, and it looks very serious. A stretcher comes out and he’s taken off. Song comes on. Four minutes of extra time to be added.

88′ The corner is well-defended, and it’s out for a goal kick. The Gunners bomb forward again.

87′ Great bit of play by Clichy to create some space down the left side, but van Persie called for offsides on the cross. At the other end, West Ham win a corner. This could be dangerous for Arsenal.

86′ Van Persie with an uncharacteristically poor corner, caught by Green.

85′ Vela is hacked down by Lucas Neill near midfield. Yellow card. Then a long ball from Diaby is cleared by Collins, but it’s another corner.

85′ West Ham settle into possession here for a bit. You can feel them start to taste a vital away point.

84′ Arsenal have a penchant for late goals, and they truly need one here. But West Ham look determined.

83′ Adebayor is called for a push on the corner. Meanwhile, Boa Morte comes on for Di Michele for West Ham.

82′ Van Persie whips it in from the left but it’s headed out. Corner.

81′ Clichy plays it in towards the back post for Adebayor and van Persie, but neither get a strong head to it and Green picks it up. Adebayor probably should have gotten a foul for scaling Matthew Upson.

80′ Arsenal get a questionable corner here. Clichy plays it for van Persie, and the ball appears to go over the touchline before van Persie gets there and knocks it off a defender and out. Nonetheless, a corner is given. No matter, Nasri’s ball is too high for anyone.

77′ Di Michele is caught offside and Almunia tries to play it quickly. Instead he makes a terrible giveaway right to Cole, who lashes one from 25 yards that Almunia is lucky to collect.

75′ Van Persie is playing a little deep right now, trying to get as much of the ball as possible. Vela cuts in dangerously around two West Ham defenders before going down theatrically. He gets booked for his dive – more frustration for Arsenal as the time starts to wane. This really is a must-win for the Gunners to keep pace with the top four. They need a goal, and fast.

74′ Nasri tries to play one in for Adebayor, but Green scrambles out and scoops it up.

72′ Vela has all day to cross it on the left side, and he finds Adebayor who gets a free header over Matthew Upson, but Green goes down well to make the save. I would have expected Adebayor to score on that one, to be honest, but perhaps I’m being hard on him.

70′ Immediately after coming on, van Persie seems to pick up a knock. He continues on though, as West Ham make a change. Savio for Noble.

68′ The Emirates crowd roars as Robin van Persie comes on for Nicklas Bendtner. He’s been a magician for the Gunners of late, can he find another goal here?

67′ Toure finds some space and has a shot from 20 yards out, but that is blocked again. In the meantime, it looks like Robin van Persie getting ready to come on for Arsenal.

66′ Not a bad long range effort from Denilson, who tries it from about 25 yards and sees it goes about two or three feet wide. Green just watched it – not sure he would have had much of a chance at it had it been inside the post.

65′ Another corner for Arsenal here, that’s got to be close to 10 now. Once again, it’s headed out, this time Cole doing the honors.

64′ Arsenal keeping the pressure on. Bendtner plays it in the middle for Vela, but the blue shirts arrive just in the nick of time to stop him from having an attempt on goal. How much longer can West Ham hold out?

63′ Oh, great counterattack by Arsenal. First, Carlton Cole cuts dangerously into the middle and plays to Collison, but his ball is wayward and springs the Gunners the other way. Bendtner plays to Sagna on the right side and his low ball finds Adebayor open near the right post, but his shot is just wide. Real good chance there.

62′ Adebayor tries some fancy footwork on the right side of the box, but can’t get anything to come off for him. It eventually goes out for a goal kick, and Adebayor stays down for a moment clutching his ankle.

60′ Nasri squares for Denilson, whose has a great angle for the shot in the middle of the box. His shot is blocked, and his follow up header is knocked away by the recently booked Collins for a corner. Great play from Arsenal here, even though off the corner, Denilson splays a cross way to far over everybody’s head.

58′ A cross by Diaby this time and it’s cleared by Collins. It’s been a difficult ten minutes here for West Ham, with Arsenal blazing out of the second half locker room. But the Hammers have come through it well defensively.

57′ Long shot here by West Ham, Di Michele I believe, but it’s blocked.

55′ Adebayor breaks down the right side momentarily, but he is cut off and eventually commits a foul.

52′More tries on goal from Arsenal by Nasri and Denilson. The latter sees his laser deflected off a West Ham head for a corner. The resulting ball is cleared, though.

51′ Great pressure from Arsenal here. Off a free kick, the ball falls dangerously in the box. Green gets caught out and Kolo Toure instinctively turns and flips one towards the open net, but Collins is there to head of the line. It would have been an absolutely sublime goal from Toure, who really executed a half-bicycle kick. Best chance of the game.

49′ Bad giveaway by Bendtner. He gets a chance to turn at the edge of the box, but his short pass goes right to a blue jersey.

48′ Some life from Adebayor. He makes a nice run in between a few defenders on the left side, but there’s just too many blue jerseys for him to get though them all. Eventually plays in a cross that is too long and goes out of bounds for a throw.

46′ We’re off here in the second half, and Arsenal quickly force a corner, West Ham clear it out, but the ball comes back in to Bendtner, who can’t do much with it.

Halftime Dare I say it’s been a typical half for Arsenal this season? Plenty of the ball but not too much in the way of chances. The Emirates Stadium crowd will feel that they’ve seen this before. On the bright side, Carlos Vela has been good since coming on. For West Ham, they’ll be content to keep loading up the box, defending well, and hoping to nick a goal at some point.

45 + 2′ And there’s the halftime whistle. A lot of possession for Arsenal this half, but they haven’t created a ton of chances to go with it.

45 + 2′ Collins gets a head on the corner, and the ball loops dangerous across the goal, but Clichy is on the line to clear the ball away. Not sure it was going in anyway, but still a dangerous moment for the Gunners.

45 + 1′ A bad giveaway by Clichy to Di Michele sees Arsenal concede a corner here.

45′ Two minutes to be added here at the end of the half.

44′ Nasri flips the ball between Neill’s legs, but Behrami, who’s had a very good half helping out in defense, is back to help intercept.

43′ Bendtner cuts into the middle and plays a ball across the box to Vela, but his first touch is too heavy and the chance passes again for Arsenal.

41′ Bad news for Arsenal here as Nasri now looks a bit gimpy. Vela is taken down near the touchline, but no call coming.

39′ Nasri whips two crosses in, the second after West Ham head out the first, but both are dealt with. The West Ham defense looks very strong in the middle and well-organized.

39′ Vela actually appears to be playing up front, with Bendtner moved out right. A nice bit of play between the two here sees Arsenal win a corner.

37′ And right away, Vela makes a nifty move and cuts into the box dangerously, but his square ball across is cut out.

36′ And that’s the end of Eboue’s day. It will be the dynamic young Mexican, Carlos Vela, coming on for him. Between Vela and Nasri, Arsenal will have quite a bit of pace and skill down the flanks.

35′ Everything seems to be going through Nasri at the moment for Arsenal. He plays in another cross here that is cleared. Meanwhile, Eboue is struggling, and looks like he may need to come off.

33′ Off the throw Ilunga wins a corner for West Ham, it’s easily cleared, though.

32′ Eboue moves into the middle but its well cut out by Parker, and West Ham move forward. Toure eventually comes out and clears the ball out of touch, but it’s a throw for West Ham deep in Arsenal territory. Eboue still down behind the play, and he limps off.

29′ Arsenal breaks here, with Eboue down the right side, but the Ivorian gives it away poorly. The Emirates crowd groans.

26′ A hint of frustration perhaps starting to build for Arsenal. They’ve had seven shots to none for West Ham, but haven’t created any real unforgettable chances.

24′ More possession here for Arsenal. The ball fall to Nasri, who tries to maneuver in tight space but has the ball poked away. It goes off him for a goal kick.

23′ The Hammers free kick is caught easily by Almunia. Arsenal with a lot of possession here but need to do more with it.

21′ West Ham get a big of possession here, and Behrami is hacked down by Diaby, who sees the first yellow card of the match – he will be forced to miss the derby matchup next week with Tottenham. Free kick for West Ham about 40 yards out.

20′ Nasri flips in another cross, and this one finds Bendtner almost unmarked, but his header goes wide. To be fair the big Dane would have needed to produce a lot to score here, there wasn’t a ton of pace on the cross.

18′ Nasri skins Lucas Neill on the left side and plays in a cross for Bendtner. That is deflected out for a corner, and Nasri’s inswinger is caught by Green. Nasri has way too much pace for Neill. That could be a dangerous matchup all day Arsenal might take advantage of.

16′ Eboue is everywhere (how many times have you heard that?), and he wins another free kick in a dangerous position. But Denilson’s service is very poor, and it flies over everyone and out for a goal kick.

14′ Eboue wins a free kick in the center of the park about 30 yards out. Toure has a run at it, but it is well-blocked.

13′ Arsenal win a corner here. Sagna gets a touch and it falls into the middle, but is cleared.

11′ Arsenal nearly beaten by the offside trap here, as a long ball is played for Cole behind the defense, but Almunia is able to come out and collect.

10′Good play from Sagna here for Arsenal, first he plays in Adebayor along the touchline, only to have the Togolese’s cross cut out.The ball comes back to Sagna though, who loops in a dangerous cross towards Adebayor that West Ham are barely able to deal with.

9′ And it’s Eboue again having a shot from a similar area. Easy to see why he doesn’t score many goals. This shot is on target, but has nothing on it and Green scoops up easily.

7′ Eboue finds himself in space and lashes a shot from about 25 yards out, but it goes horribly wide. Still, Arsenal will be quite happy with this start, as they look pretty dangerous so far.

5′ Eboue tries to slide when in for Bendtner, but the pass is just to wrong side of him. Pity for Arsenal, as an on target pass and he might have been able to turn there.

4′ Nasri swings in the corner for Diaby, who gets free and powers a header that takes a deflection of a defender and goes just over the bar. Great start for Arsenal here, even though their second corner is dealt with much easier.

3′ Clichy whips a ball in for Adebayor, who creates a bit of space but can’t do a lot with the cross. Corner for Arsenal, though.

2′ Arsenal starts off in possession, but Bendter gives it away near the box.

1′ And we’re off, Arsenal in their traditional red and white, West Ham in their all-sky blue outfits.

0′ Surprising to see Toure and Gallas paired together for Arsenal, after it’s become pretty well publicized that they don’t get along very well. Not to mention they’ve been completely ineffective as a partnership. Also no Van Persie for Arsenal. He’s been Arsenal’s best player by a mile lately – he’s scored or assisted in every Gunners league goal in 2009 so far.

0′ It looks like Man City have officially lost to 10-men stoke. And they looked so good against Newcastle mid-week. You can bet Mark Hughes is feeling the heat right now.

0′ One note for West Ham. The Hammers have made a transfer tradeoff of sorts. Out of sorts midfielder Julien Faubert will go on loan to Real Madrid for the rest of the year, while the Hammers have landed Czech Republic midfielder Radoslav Kovac on loan for the rest of the season from Spartak Moscow.

Reaction

This result will come as a bitter disappointment for Arsenal, who can feel their chance at a top four slot slipping. Andrei Arshavin might be on the way, and the Gunners certainly need him. They had a better than 60 percent share of the possession, had 22 shots (West Ham had three) and forced 14 corner kicks. But those stats flatter the Gunners a bit, and they just looked toothless at times. The saving grace for Arsenal comes with the news that Aston Villa drew against Wigan, meaning Arsenal don’t drop any points in the race for fourth.

West Ham were organized and defended well, and they get a well-deserved point. The Hammers are really turning into a team that is not fun to play, having gone unbeaten in their last six league fixtures. Zola should be commended for the job he’s done, and this team is a far cry from the one that lost to Arsenal 2-0 in October.

Man of the Match

It’s hard to single out anybody in the West Ham side, but I’ll go with James Collins. The Welsh central defender always seemed to be in the right place in the right time, including on the line to clear Kolo Toure’s goal-bound shot in the 55th minute. And whereas Matthew Upson got caught out of position or outmuscled, Collins was steady, strong in the air and quick to cut off balls played into the box. Credit should also go to the West Ham midfield, who helped out in defense well. Really, I can’t remember Hammers goalie Robert Green really having to make a tough save.