Monday, February 6th, 2012
Arsenal continued to show their battling qualities as they went top of the English Premier League live after a strong performance with 10 men to beat West Ham. The 2-0 win was achieved despite the dismissal of defender Thomas Vermaelen who was involved in a controversial incident that would not deny his teammates the glory of going top of the league against all the odds. Brazilian midfielder Denilson scored the opening goal with an impressive long range drive before Manuel Almunia saved Alessandro Diamanti’s penalty in the second half as the Hammers threatened a comeback.
Instead it was left to captain Cesc Fabregas to make it 2-0 with nine minutes left via another penalty following a handball by Matthew Upson. The result made a mockery of the earlier defeats they suffered to Chelsea and Manchester United which threatened to end their season early again even though the Gunners continue to play the most entertaining football in the country.
After the match, Fabregas said of the game and also the sending off of Vermaelen:
”At times it was very difficult and it always has been in the last few years against West Ham,” Fabregas told ESPN. ”It’s always a difficult game, a London derby, everyone wants to win, the fans are really up for it and in the last few years it has been tough.”
Asked whether he saw Vermaelen’s challenge, the midfielder said: ”No, but I heard it was 50-50. The referee said it was 100%, so he will know better.
”He [Vermaelen] is an amazing player and an amazing guy, but there are no excuses. We want to go all the way with the squad we have. We have a quality squad and we want to prove that.”
Match Highlights of Arsenal vs West Ham, and Arsene Wenger also had words to say about the sending off and how the game went:
Tags: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, English Premier League, EPL live, Thomas Vermaelen, West Ham United