I was asked which West Ham Arsenal game I will always remember, to me it was easy, it was the Premier League game on 3rd October 1999 and it had it all; goals, controversy and a couple of red cards.
The teams were –
- · West Ham Hislop, Potts, Ruddock, Stimic, Sinclair, Lomas, Lampard, Foe, Moncur, Di Canio, Wanchope. Subs Kitson, Margas, Forrest, Keller and Carrick.
- · Arsenal Seaman, Luzhny, Silvinho, Keown, Adams, Vieira, Grimandi, Ljungberg, Henry, Bergkamp, Suker. Subs Overmars, Kanu, Dixon, Winterburn and Manninger.
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This is a game that many thought Arsenal would run away with but it was to prove to be a lot tougher than everyone first thought.
It was an incident packed game where both teams had five men booked and one each sent off. However it was not a malicious kind of game. It started how every West Ham fan would have thought it would start against a tough Arsenal team, fast! Arsenal dominated the opening 20 minutes with Thierry Henry having a couple of chances.
Arsenal should have taken the lead with an effort from Davor Suker; however Shaka Hislop got enough of the ball to deflect it wide of the post. West Ham also came close from a Paolo Di Canio free kick which whistled past David Seaman’s post and we should have taken the lead when Di Canio broke and beat Oleg Luzhny then played it inside to Paulo Wanchope who got in front of Martin Keown, but his poor touch allowed Luzhny time to get back into position and he managed to dispose of any danger.
If I am honest we did have a slice of luck when we took the lead, Di Canio had went on a mazy run from inside our own half taking the ball past Silvinho and Grimandi then taking a few lucky bounces and knocks before the ball was loose, Frank Lampard challenged for the loose ball and it found its way through to Trevor Sinclair who had an effort but pulled a good save from the out rushing Seaman, the ball bounced back going over Sinclair’s head who used his hand to help the ball back into the box. Wanchope’s effort was miscued and it fell kindly to Di Canio who slotted it home to make it 1-0.
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After the break Arsenal again came out the better side but West Ham did well to keep them quiet. Their most notable effort at the start of the second half came when Dennis Bergkamp picked up the ball and went on a run where the ball seemed to just stick to him; he pulled the ball back across goal with Suker inches away from turning it in.
With time running out for Arsenal, Wenger threw caution to the wind and brought on Marc Overmars and Nwankwo Kanu for Luzhny and Henry, but it backfired as West Ham went two up. It was a long ball forward which Tony Adams and Wanchope went for with Adams winning it, but it fell to Di Canio who showed great skill by flicking the ball on the volley over Keown and completely wrong footing the defender before hitting the ball on the volley calmly past Seaman high into the goal. There was no such controversy over this goal only Di Canio’s super skills and I can remember going wild!
After being on the back foot for so long, we showed calmness and patience and we took our chances. The celebrations only lasted a few minutes when Arsenal pinned us back with a Suker goal from a Steve Lomas header that was misplaced and the ball found itself falling at Suker’s feet who hit in on the volley to make it 2-1.
West Ham’s defending was desperate to say the least for the last ten minutes or so but it was made a little easier when Patrick Vieira was sent off for a second booking for a foul on Di Canio. As Vieira was walking off he saw red and challenged the referee’s decision before Grimandi pulled him away and as Grimandi was walking Vieira away he turned and spat in Neil Ruddock’s direction which is never nice to see from any person let alone a footballer who is meant to be a role model.
Arsenal could have still taken something away from the game when Overmars played in Bergkamp who just couldn’t get enough on the ball but brought a good save from Hislop. West Ham lost Foe to a second booking after a tackle from behind, however, West Ham managed to hold on and see the game through to earn a fantastic win against an Arsenal team at their best.
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A great win and one that will always stay with me, two goals from my favourite West Ham striker, and all in all, a game that everyone had written us out off before a ball was kicked. It just goes to show in football that anything can happen and lets all hope this happens for us against Arsenal this time round!
Come on you Irons!!
Carl Bateson
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