Final Score: Arsenal 1 West Ham 0

Barclays Premier League leaders Arsenal maintained their superb start to the season with a hard-earned 1-0 win at West Ham.

Empics
Van Persie crashes into old LjungbergRobin van Persie's close-range header on 13 minutes proved enough for an eighth straight victory.

West Ham, though, had their chances - the best of which fell to England hopeful Dean Ashton - but they also were indebted to keeper Rob Green, who made a string a fine saves.

The Hammers have performed well against Arsenal in recent meetings - winning both games last season as they escaped the drop. However, the Gunners are currently in blistering form and again started brightly.

• Wenger angry with Noble tackle

Inside the opening two minutes Arsenal broke quickly down the left, with Abou Diaby cutting the ball back to Emmanuel Adebayor, who drilled a low shot just wide from 15 yards.

West Ham, though, soon rallied and former Gunner Freddie Ljungberg was unfortunate to be flagged offside when collecting a quick backheel from Ashton on the edge of the Arsenal box.

The England hopeful was then sent clear himself, only to again be called up by the referee's assistant on the far side.

Ashton was leading the West Ham line with plenty of aggression, and turned to drill a 20-yard shot just over.

Arsenal, though, were ahead on 13 minutes.

Adebayor held the ball up well on the right side of the area and fed a pass out to Alexander Hleb.

His centre flew across the six-yard box, where van Persie arrived on queue at the far post to glance a header past Green, who was at full stretch and could only push the ball onto the post and in.

The goal silenced the home crowd, and after such a positive start the Hammers suddenly looked disjointed.

As the half-hour approached, West Ham were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men following an X-rated challenge by Mark Noble on Hleb.

The Belarus midfielder, just back from a knee problem, had to be carried off with what looked like a similar injury and was replaced by Emmanuel Eboue.

Arsenal were incensed, but referee Alan Wiley deemed a yellow card sufficient punishment.

West Ham continued to try to take the match to Arsenal, but the visitors were playing with a high defensive line and used the offside trap well.

When the hosts did get in behind, they could not find a telling cross into the danger zone.

At the other end, Lee Bowyer was penalised for handball just outside the area on the right.

Van Persie struck his effort goalwards, which Green palmed behind.

Mathieu Flamini tried his luck with a low, 20-yard strike which the West Ham keeper got down well to stop.

The hosts replaced Scott Parker, who looked to have picked up a knock, at the restart and were then quickly forced into another change when Anton Ferdinand hobbled off and Danny Gabbidon came on.

Van Persie came within inches of putting the visitors 2-0 ahead on 54 minutes.

The Dutchman side-stepped marker Gabbidon on the edge of the area, and drilled his shot towards the top left-hand corner.

Green was again at full stretch and got his fingertips to the ball, which this time bounced back off the post and away.

Moments later it should have been 1-1 after Bowyer chipped the ball into the area from the right.

Ashton had timed his run perfectly to get a free header at the back post, only to then nod it straight at a grateful Manuel Almunia.

This was a good spell for West Ham. Ljungberg did get the ball into the net when he collected Henri Camara's slide pass - but was flagged offside in what looked a marginal call.

However, Arsenal were dangerous on the break.

Van Persie and Adebayor exchanged passes on the edge of the West Ham box, which sent the Togo striker clear and Green came to the rescue with a fine reaction save low to his left.

Arsenal full-back Gael Clichy was the next man to force a good save from Green, the England international again at full stretch to turn the ball behind.

The Gunners made a change with 12 minutes left when Gilberto replaced Adebayor, who looked to have a dead leg, before Green once more pushed a goal-bound strike behind, this time from Flamini.

Van Persie booted a downward header from Ashton clear in front of his own net as the Gunners closed out the match - including four minutes of stoppage time - to stay ahead of the chasing pack.

Wenger angry with Noble tackle

Arsene Wenger praised his battling Arsenal side following the hard-fought 1-0 win at West Ham which kept them top - but was less than impressed by the x-rated tackle from Mark Noble which saw Alexander Hleb stretchered off.

Robin van Persie's close-range header after 13 minutes proved enough for an eighth straight victory, as the Gunners consolidated their position ahead of the chasing pack.

West Ham keeper Robert Green produced a string of fine saves to deny the visitors a further advantage and indeed the home side could have earned a point had England hopeful Dean Ashton not spurned a great chance with his close-range header.

Large spells of the match were played out in a competitive manner, with little quarter given - particularly in midfield where Arsenal pair Cesc Fabregas and Mathieu Flamini were in the thick of the action.

Wenger was, though, unhappy with the lunging challenge from Noble, which was punished only by a yellow card but which left Hleb - just back from injury - with a badly bruised knee and out of next week's Champions League trip to Steaua Bucharest.

The Arsenal manager said: 'To me it looked very nasty, although I haven't seen it again.

'If it was an accident, it is a very bad accident, because if you see his leg it is unbelievable.

'It is red and bruised from the knee down to the toes.

'We are quite optimistic because Noble is usually a fair player. I don't know if it was an accident or not, but he caught him very well.'

Wenger revealed: 'I don't think Hleb will play on Tuesday because he cannot walk properly at the moment.

'[Emmanuel] Adebayor had a kick on the thigh, and he looks like he has a good chance to play on Tuesday night.'

The Gunners boss, celebrating 11 years in charge of Arsenal, was pleased to see his table-toppers come through a tough test which they have often failed in recent seasons to record a first win at West Ham since 2000.

Wenger said: 'We had a bit of apprehension because we lost here last season and this was a big test.

'We started with the handbrake on but the goal helped. We didn't make the same mistake we made at Blackburn. We continued to play and move forward and try and score the second goal. 'Unfortunately we didn't get that but we deserved it.'

Wenger added: 'There's room for improvement but I am very proud of what the team is achieving at the moment.

'I believe we can challenge. We are very young, but we have to show we can eke out results.

'Everywhere we go we try and play and improve - today was a bit different because West Ham made it hard for us to do that.

'We had a lot to deal with in the air and with the second ball, so it was important for us to keep the pace of the game high.

'We did that in the second half and I think that shows the team is maturing tactically.'

West Ham could consider themselves somewhat unfortunate not to come away with a point, rather than a second successive league defeat.

Former Gunner Freddie Ljungberg had a goal chalked out for a marginal offside call, and Ashton also went close more than once.

However, by the same token, without Green's performance, they could have been beaten by a much bigger margin.

Manager Alan Curbishley, who lost key midfielder Scott Parker to injury at half-time, said: 'When a side like Arsenal get their noses in front away from home, they're set up to be a very difficult side to play.

'But Arsenal are a top four team and you need a few things to go for you - and you certainly don't need to go one down after 10 minutes.'

Curbishley added: 'We competed as well as we could and we're disappointed we couldn't get back in it.

'If we had, it would have been anyone's match but Arsenal defended very well and got bodies in the way.'

man u mng gak..
yeahh..
smeu team power mng..
tp portsmouth plg xbleh blah..
7-4 dol mng...
gile kental ar..
@@
smue team power2 skrg..
teruje syial akuh..

MU menang nasib jer tuuu,,,
wakakakaka,,,
liverpool kene atk giler bangang,,,
tp goal dier lawa,,
papehal pon CHELSEA gak sempoi,,

tahniah abg cili kerana pasukan anda dah menang

chelsea officially become chelshit.. thanx to abramovich n grant

arsenal gol nasib,keeper sampah tepis guna jari wakakaka

adebayor=adibahnor

wakakka
adebayor=adibahnor
hebat jugak taw

haih...
susah la camnih..
asyik menang jar arsenal nih...

Xper Kodiang .. Kte tgg tgk Arsenal kalah .. tp mcm season 2002/2003 (Kalau xsilap aku la) Arsenal nyer REKOD 40++ or 50++ Match tanpa kalah kan ??
Itu aku tabik SPRING la .. dlm season EPL tahun tuh xde kalah 38 perlawanan .. tp kite tgg season 2007/2008 nie ..

kalau nak tau , arsenal adalah satunye2 club kat epl buat unbeaten season .

*aku MU

Nasib baik ko bgtau din .. aku ingat ko pun Arsenal ..

suma org nak tau tntang arsenal..
unbeaten team ok?
aku ulang lg skali,
ARSENAL UNBEATEN TEAM

Itu menda dah lepas Kodiang..Kte tgk musim 2007/2008 nie .. Adakah Arsenal bakal mengulangi Sejarah Unbeaten Season or You'll Never Walk to Champions ..??

wakkaka
marah cili nnt