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  • Harewood (89)
  • Date:2006-11-05
  • Kick-off:13:30
  • Venue:Upton Park
  • Attendance:34969
  • Referee:Styles, R

Live Commentary

90mins

Harewood's late strike means Arsenal missed the chance to go third in the Premiership. The Hammers are now out of the bottom three thanks to their second win on the spin.

89mins

Harewood was booked for ripping his shirt off in celebration, he won't mind.

89mins

WEST HAM UNITED 1-0 ARSENAL (HAREWOOD): HAREWOOD looks to have grabbed the winner after finishing off Etherington's cross. The goal sparks a confrontation between Pardew and Arsene Wenger.

86mins

Henry waltzes forward but the Frenchman can find no way past the last man.

84mins

It looks like this London derby is going right to the wire.

82mins

Benayoun impedes Fabregas in midfield.

81mins

Etherington's free-kick takes a deflection for a corner as the Hammers pile the pressure on.

79mins

Kolo Toure has just unleashed an absolute thunderbolt from 40 yards but he is inches wide of the target with Green well beaten.

77mins

Lehmann pulls off a great save to deny the on-rushing Harewood who was through one-on-one. It was a great chance.

76mins

Mathieu Flamini replaces Justin Hoyte.

75mins

The crowd has gone quiet as they start to think about taking a well-deserved point out of the game.

73mins

The game enters the final 20 minutes and it could really go either way.

71mins

Hleb goes off for Emmanuel Eboue who is coming back from a knee injury.

68mins

Sheringham has just been denied by a last-ditch tackle 12 yards out by Clichy with the goal at his mercy.

67mins

Hleb is brought down by Spector by the referee is not he interested. It looks like he got it wrong though.

65mins

West Ham are gambling by throwing on two strikers but they might just get their reward against a Gunners side who played in the Champions League in midweek.

62mins

Marlon Harewood replaces Bowyer.

62mins

Teddy Sheringham comes on for Zamora.

62mins

Gilberto side foots wide as West Ham make a double change.

61mins

Emmanuel Adebayor replaces Van Persie who has drifted out of the game.

60mins

The game is now an hour old and it's still 0-0 at Upton Park.

58mins

Zamora has sliced wide after good link-up play with Etherington. To be fair to the striker, he didn't have too many options available.

58mins

It's turned into a cagier game than the first half as West Ham look to keep their work-rate up in order to stiffle the visitors' creativity.

56mins

Henry's free-kick is wayward and he fails to find Gallas who had made a run to the back post.

53mins

McCartney has just blocked a shot from the edge of the area from Henry and West Ham force another corner which Hleb clears well.

52mins

Van Persie is penalised for a pullback on Danny Gabbidon as he looks to carve out a chance in the box.

51mins

Hleb has now asked too much of Henry with a pass and he doesn't seem to be on top of his game.

51mins

Alexander Hleb has just put the ball out under no pressure as he tried to find the overlapping Justin Hoyte. It's poor play from the midfielder.

50mins

Bowyer is starting to get forward to support Zamora and it looks like the Hammers are looking for an early goal in the second half.

48mins

Lee Bowyer goes down under a challenge from William Gallas but it's an inch-perfect tackle. Bowyer is unhappy with the decision though.

47mins

The Hammers' five-man midfield is doing a great job on their Arsenal counterparts who have not really been given any time on the ball to get into their stride.

46mins

West Ham get the game underway for the second 45 minutes and they'll be looking for more of the same at the very least.

45mins

It's half time at Upton Park and neither side has done enough to break the deadlock. Etherington, Rosicky and Van Persie have all gone close though. Pardew will be the happier manager after his side frustrated the visitors in the opening 45 minutes.

45mins

There will be three minutes of injury time.

44mins

George McCartney is on for ankle injury victim Ferdinand.

42mins

Van Persie is booked for a handball. He's been riding his luck for a while now.

41mins

The game is back underway and it looks like it's going to be goalless at the break.

38mins

Ferdinand is now getting treatment while Van Persie looks to have been hit by a missile from the crowd as he looks to take a throw-in. A policeman recovers something from the side of the pitch.

36mins

Rosicky's corner is poor and easily cut out at the near post. Anton Ferdinand is struggling with what appears to be an ankle problem.

35mins

Zamora has just been penalised for a soft foul on Fabregas after West Ham worked hard to win the ball back.

32mins

Zamora focres a corner and West Ham need a decent ball in to attack after wasting a few dead ball situations.

31mins

Clichy is booked for a challenge on Spector which leaves both players with head injuries. It's a harsh booking.

29mins

Van Persie and Spector continue to tangle and the Dutch international has just needlessly fouled his opponent.

28mins

Rosicky fires wide from 20 yards when he gets on the end of a swift counter-attack by the Gunners.

26mins

Etherington forces a corner off Toure but the move is too intricate and a waste of a set piece.

24mins

Gilberto now joins Lehman in gifting possession away and the crowd are really getting on the visitors' backs.

22mins

Jens Lehmann completely messes up a clearance and eventually West Ham work an opening but Benayoun can only head wide from close range at the near post.

20mins

Henry takes the free-kick but it's easily claimed by Green. Van Persie is off the pitch getting treatment but is ok to return to play.

19mins

Spector brings down Van Persie and is booked.

18mins

Rosicky fires over on the turn as Arsenal look to grab the opening goal.

16mins

Gilberto blasts over from 20 yards and it was never likely to trouble Green.

15mins

Hammers boss Alan Pardew will be the happier manager at this stage but Arsenal are showing signs of finding their rhythm.

13mins

Van Persie is starting to see more of the ball but his attempted one-two with Tomas Rosicky is cut out. Van Persie then forces Green into a save from 17 yards which goes out for a corner.

12mins

Robin Van Persie catches Benayoun with his hand around his neck and a foul is awarded against the flying Dutchman.

11mins

West Ham are defending from the front and making life hard for the Gunners who haven't really been allowed to settle yet.

8mins

It's been a bright start from the Hammers and Robert Green in the home goal has yet to touch the ball.

6mins

Jonathan Spector bursts forward and wins the first corner of the game. Matthew Etherington works a good short corner routine and nearly opens the scoring from 18 yards out.

4mins

Henry slams the free-kick into the wall but West Ham's counter-attack is snuffed out at the expense of a free-kick to the Hammers. It comes to nothing.

3mins

Thierry Henry wins a free-kick 30 yards out but it looks to be a soft decision.

1mins

Gael Clichy flies into a challenge on Yossi Benayoun but referee Rob Styles is happy to play the advantage. It's been all West Ham so far after Arsenal wasted possession from kick-off.

1mins

Arsenal get the 99th league meeting between the clubs underway. The home fans are already in full voice and making their presence felt in the ground.

0mins

It's seven years since West Ham beat Arsenal at Upton Park and they'll have to upset the formbook if they are going to win.

0mins

The Hammers are looking to build on their 2-1 home win over Blackburn last time out. Arsenal can go third with victory after Bolton and Portsmouth slipped up yesterday.

0mins

West Ham have Bobby Zamora up front on his own with Teddy Sheringham dropping down to the bench in order to accomodate Lee Bowyer. Arsenal are unchanged from the goalless draw with CSKA Moscow in midweek.

Match Preview

West Ham finally ended their dismal run of eight straight defeats in all competitions with last weekend's 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers.

Alan Pardew's misfiring side pulled out of the drop zone on the back of their nervous performance with veteran striker Teddy Sheringham on the mark for the first time this season.

"Obviously, we've still got a tremendous amount of battling to do to climb back up the league," admitted a relieved Pardew afterwards.

"And although one victory won't propel us up into a comfortable place in the Premiership, we've shown tremendous bravery and it's good that we're now out of the bottom three."

However, whether the fragile Hammers can build on their performance against in-form Arsenal is another matter entirely.

Carlos Tevez (knee) and Lee Bowyer (hernia) are set to miss out through injury and with just three points separating the Hammers from the bottom of the table, the under-pressure manager is far from out of the woods yet.

Arsenal arrive at Upton Park on the back of a superb recent run in the league.

Prior to last weekend's 1-1 draw with Everton, Arsene Wenger's side had won their previous five Premiership games and had risen up to fifth in the table.

But Wenger will be hoping his side's inability to find the back of the net against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League won't be repeated at the weekend.

Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky and Robin van Persie all missed gilt-edged chances to bury their Russian opponents on a disappointing European night at the Emirates Stadium.

"The team played exceptionally well - maybe the best Champions League game since I have been here," said Wenger afterwards. "We should have won by five, six or even seven."


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Match Report

Marlon Harewood's last-gasp winner silenced the Gunners as West Ham turned the form book upside down to haul themselves out of the bottom three.

The Hammers' substitute struck in the 89th minute to further ease the pressure on his manager, Alan Pardew, whose celebrations at recording unlikely back to back victories, also saw him embroiled in a surreal pushing and shoving match with Arsene Wenger.
West Ham's victory over Blackburn Rovers a week earlier may have ended a record of eight successive league and cup defeats, but they had still kicked off without a clean sheet all season and in 18th place.

And despite being last Sunday's Rovers hero, Teddy Sheringham found his 40-year-old legs rested alongside George McCartney, as Pardew recalled Paul Konchesky and Lee Bowyer to a fixture which Hammers had not won since October 1999.

Beaten just twice in 15 league and cup matches, fifth-placed Arsenal, on the other hand, were unchanged from their midweek Champions League draw with CSKA Moscow, as they looked to extend their undefeated Premiership run to eight games.

Notwithstanding the wild contrast in their early-season fortunes, West Ham emerged confident and composed as man-of-the-match Danny Gabbidon let fly with an early shot, before Matthew Etherington's angled, touchline screamer into the danger zone was deflected past his far post by Gael Clichy.

With Arsenal stretching the Hammers with a delightful range and repertoire of precision passing, however, the eastenders knew that they switched off at their peril and, on 12 minutes, only the outstretched left palm of Robert Green denied Robin Van Persie after he latched on to Thierry Henry's subtle nod down from Alex Hleb's searching cross.

In reply, Yossi Benayoun headed Jonathan Spector's cross behind at the near post, but it was Tomas Rosicky who should have broken the deadlock on the half-hour mark, when Cesc Fabregas and Henry carved West Ham apart only for the Czech to wastefully drill wide of the exposed Hammers' keeper and his left-hand upright.

Just before the break, Van Persie -who had earlier been felled by a missile from the crowd - followed Clichy into referee Styles' notebook for a deliberate handball and that capped an eventful 45 minutes for the duelling Dutchman, who had been involved several scraps with Spector, who likewise had also been cautioned for an early scythe on the Gunner.

On the hour, Van Persie trudged away after Emmanuel Adebayor was asked by a frustrated Wenger to increase the pressure on a West Ham defence that had lost Anton Ferdinand just before the break.

With his side still very much in an intriguing contest, though, Pardew responded by replacing the industrious Bowyer and Bobby Zamora with Harewood and Sheringham and, within minutes of his arrival, only the courageous Clichy's last-gasp block thwarted the former Tottenham veteran.

At the other end, Hleb was denied a penalty when he was brought down by Spector and, when the hitherto subdued Henry finally mustered a shot on target, Green got down well to grab the 20-yard effort, before Kolo Toure was just inches wide from double the distance.

With a quarter-hour left, Harewood looked set to break the deadlock when he raced clear with only Lehmann to beat, however the giant German cleverly tightened the angle to block the shot.

But with the clock ticking down, Konchesky asked Etherington to embark on one last touchline gallop and when the Hammers' winger crossed into the six-yard box, Harewood atoned for that earlier miss when he swept home at the far post to send the East End crazy and Pardew and Wenger even wilder.

West Ham United

Arsenal

Corners

83

Fouls

118

Goal attempts

1111

Shots off target

66

Offsides

35

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