Hammers earn unlikely draw

Arsenal threw away a two-goal lead against West Ham at Upton Park on Sunday in a game they looked certain to win.

West Ham come from two-goals down to draw with Arsenal

Arsenal threw away a two-goal lead against West Ham at Upton Park on Sunday in a game they looked certain to win. Hammers goalkeeper Robert Green gifted Robin van Persie the opener on 16 minutes when he palmed a cross into the path of the Dutchman leaving the striker the simplest of tasks of tapping home into an empty net. The visitors doubled their lead eight minutes before the break when William Gallas rose highest to head in from a corner. Arsenal looked the likeliest to extend their advantage after the break but it was the introduction of Alessandro Diamanti, now minus the dreadlocks, and Zavon Hines that turned the game on its head. It was Diamanti that swung in a vicious free-kick from the left that Vito Mannone could only parry back into the six-yard box and Carlton Cole was on hand to head in on 74 minutes. Cole was involved in the second when Arsenal's Alex Song was, harshly, adjudged to have bundled over the striker in the area to give Diamanti the chance to smash home from the spot six minutes later. The Hammers held onto their precious point despite captain Scott Parker being dismissed for two bookable offences with five minutes remaining.

Early promise

Gianfranco Zola's men had shown plenty of early promise, when Cole's drive was charged down before again being undone by some poor defending. Arsenal slowly started to get themselves on top, with Green standing up well at the near post to palm Van Persie's angled drive behind for a corner. At the other end, Mannone - again preferred in goal to Manuel Almunia - needed treatment after being clattered by James Tomkins when coming to collect a corner. Arsenal felt they had a strong shout for a penalty when, on 11 minutes, Van Persie's strike appeared to hit Matthew Upson, the former Gunners defender, on the arm, but referee Chris Foy thought otherwise. Eventually, though, the visitors took the lead on 16 minutes. Abou Diaby fed full-back Bacary Sagna on the overlap down the right. The French defender whipped the ball across the six-yard box, where Green came to palm it away, only to collide with James Tomkins, leaving Van Persie free to slot into an empty net for his sixth goal of the season. Despite the setback, West Ham remained positive. Cole continued to ask questions of the Arsenal defence, with Gallas getting across to clear after another powerful run down the right. Arsenal, though, weathered the period of West Ham pressure, and slowly took charge of midfield again. Upton Park was subdued, with the home fans starting to get restless before Arsenal doubled their lead on 37 minutes. A 25-yard shot from Cesc Fabregas was deflected behind for a corner. Van Persie whipped the ball across towards the far post, where Gallas got up to thump a header past Parker on the line. Italian Diamanti, sent on just before the hour mark, at least injected some life into the West Ham attack, as he fired a 35-yard effort wide. Cesc Fabregas then almost drilled in a third from distance, but the ball flew just wide of the top right corner. This was a good spell for the Hammers, as Clichy made an important block when Hinds looked to get away his shot from eight yards. Fabregas broke quickly, before feeding Arshavin and Green was at full stretch to beat away the Russian's 20-yard effort. Diaby then wrestled Hinds to the ground, giving away a needless free-kick in a dangerous position, five yards outside the area on the left.

Life-line

Diamanti smashed the ball goalwards, which Mannone did well to keep out, but pushed it back to the six-yard box where Cole headed in to give West Ham a life-line on 74 minutes. The home fans were screaming for a penalty when Parker went down after running into Gallas, but the referee waved play on. However, a spot-kick was given with 10 minutes left when Song tripped Cole. After Mannone had been booked for not going back on his line, Diamanti levelled to send Upton Park into delirium. West Ham were reduced to 10 men when Parker, already booked, was shown a second yellow card for deliberately falling on the ball as Fabregas charged clear. Diaby was substituted for Eduardo as Wenger went for the win. However, the Hammers were not to be denied during four minutes of stoppage time, when Green somehow kept out van Persie's header.

West Ham United	Team Statistics	Arsenal
2	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	2
3	Shots on Target	6
7	Shots off Target	6
6	Blocked Shots	5
6	Corners	8
19	Fouls	16
5	Offsides	2
2	Yellow Cards	2
1	Red Cards	0
77.1	Passing Success	78.9
18	Tackles	26
77.8	Tackles Success	61.5
46.8	Possession	53.2
41.9	Territorial Advantage	58.1