Saturday 30 October 2010

Song gives niggling West Ham their just deserts

The starting line up was one that many of us would have predicted, but quite a few of us would have liked to see Walcott in the front three, his pace is so vital in breaking down sides like West Ham who are guaranteed to come and park the team bus in front of the goal. The team was Fabianski, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Song, Fabregas, Denilson, Arshavin, Nasri, Chamakh.

The first half was a tad lacklustre, the tempo and pressing wasn't quite enough to really rattle West Ham, still we created by far the better of the chances, Green having to make smart saves from Cesc, Song and Squillaci. Arshavin didn't have a great half, Nasri wasn't in the game enough, we didn't seem to throw the kitchen sink at them early doors.

The second half saw a much improved performance, the pressing was better, the tempo faster, West Ham were panicking and making errors. The ref Jones had a special spell in which he showed his abundant lack of skill, he failed to book Parker for an appalling scissoring lunge on Denilson, he allowed numerous tackles from behind from West Ham, he allowed Behrami to shove Song with two hands in the box and he missed a blatant tug back from Costa on Arshavin in the penatly box.

Still we had plently of chances. Arshavin got in a few times, the final ball was too often something inbetween a cross and a shot. Nasri was looking more dangerous, he tested Green on more than one occasion and beat him with a fantastic thirty yarder that bounced back off the bar at some speed with the keeper floundering. Walcott came on and instantly had an impact, he again beat the lucky Green, only to see his shot bounce back into Green's arms off the inside of the post.

Time was running out. Cesc forced Green into another decent save with a low fizzer, it was very lucky for West Ham that Green's block narrowly avoided the marauding Bendtner who looked ready to tap home the rebound. Then when hope was fading, Clichy brilliantly cut inside from the left wing, dinked a great chipped cross in with his right foot, Song met it five yards out and Green was finally beaten. The desperate West Ham players were appealing for an offside, replays proved conclusively that it was miles onside and the linesman's decision was vindicated.

We played the game out without worry and West Ham had their just deserts. There was something particularly annoying about West Ham, the never ending moaning at the referee from the fouling Parker, the niggling deliberate fouls, it was very satisfying to see them walk away with nothing. Although the first half was a bit dull, we gave a very good account of ourselves in the second half, it could easily have been a far greater margin of victory with a bit more luck. It was good to see Gael Clichy put in a great assist and have a much stronger game today, Cesc was again instrumental in the win. Another vital three points won, well done lads.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

was beginning to fear the worst with 5 - 10 mins to go, had a feeling it was gona be one of those days, but fair play to the lads, sounds as though they kept their composure didn't panic and found a way through in the end...

good to see citeh fall at wolves too, even though they lost me 78 quid, ill take it to see them drop a few points... :D

Anonymous said...

Think you're a little bit harsh on Green by calling him 'lucky'. He made some great saves and kept them in it, the stop from Cesc in the first was particlarly impressive.

Didn't think Nasri was really in the game until Theo came on and he dropped back into Denilson's place, then he started to run things for the final 20 mins or so. With Theo fit again and Denilson making our midfield much more solid it could lead to some interestng selection problems for certain fixtures.

Another good win though. The sort win champions grid out etc, etc.

anata said...

Fucking referee is a frickin faggot, not fit to be an epl referee.missed so many west ham fouls you'd think he was mr magoo ?!!or partial to westham ?

was esctatic when song headed in the goal, gave west ham bastards wat they deserved and also dat whining idiot parkerprick & behramiasshole

Anonymous said...

Clichy making a cross and that too with his right foot,now that's very very rare to see

Bala said...

Clichy making a cross and that too with his right foot,now that's very very rare to see

sanket kambli said...

referee was shit..

green was good...

song ... the winning goal..

what a joyful moment of leaping and shouting...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the round up. Mah stream was shit.

BTW it's desserts not deserts!

1979gooner said...

actually no, deserts is the correct spelling:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/just-deserts.html

!

Rhinogooner said...

Bah! I missed the match today. Anyone know of a reliable site I can watch a replay of the full match on?