EPL News: Grant and Arsene comment on London derby, Ferguson confirms Rooney out of action for five weeks - Part 1
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager took an easy breath or two after his side snatched victory from the jaws of a draw at the Emirates Stadium against fellow Londoners West Ham United. West Ham lost the match eventually by two goals to one courtesy of a late
Arsenal goal in north London. It was an exciting encounter from start to finish which Arsenal dominated throughout the match. Alex Song’s late header kept Arsenal in the second position in the English Premier League table but it came at a cost of a heart break
for West Ham United. However, there was a bright spot for the Hammers whose goalkeeper Robert Green was amazing throughout the match as Cesc Fabregas and co were kept out of the West Ham goal for the best part of the 90 minutes at the Emirates stadium
Not only that, a combined of a fine string of saves coupled with Samir Nasri’s long range effort from a free kick and Theo Walcott’s cross bar thumping shot were the highlight of the match for the neutrals. The late Arsenal goal came through Gael Clichy’s
cross from the left hand side. The cross was met with an emphatic header by the Cameroonian midfielder, Alex Song for Arsenal. Wenger commented on the game by saying, "When you win with two minutes to go, it is always a relief, we needed to be patient, intelligent
and not to make a mistake at the back against a team who had a strong spirit and were well organized. We did not do anything stupid, kept trying to be intelligent and that got us the goal.”
The Frenchmen further added, "I was thinking it was one of those days when the ball went onto the post and came back into the goalkeeper's hands, that is not a good sign. But we kept going and out of this game we have once again shown a great attitude."
Arsenal went into their matchup against West Ham following a comprehensive three goal win against Manchester City. In their mid-week match against Newcastle, Arsenal scored three more as they recorded a 3-0 nil win to seal their spot in the quarterfinals of
the Carling Cup.
Nonetheless, Arsene Wenger was on guard as he warned his players against possible complacency in their play as Arsenal came against a West Ham side struggling for Premier League survival due to their position in the relegation zone of the Premier League
table. After the win, Arsene said, "We have matured, you see that in the game the way we handle it when it does not work for us, the players remain calmer than before. We have a good chance [for the title], yes, but we want to show consistency first. We go
step by step and we still need to step up a gear to completely achieve that. But on the other hand you feel there is more to come out from this team, we have good potential on bench today and some players to come back.”
Speaking on his team’s fitness issues, the long standing Arsenal manager went onto say, "If we can keep a good injury record then we have a chance. It is too early in the season, but I have belief. We need to show from game to game we can handle every single
game with a different aspect which the Premier League has - today we played against the team bottom of the league and it was a real battle. We have to show can compete like that in every game."
Nonetheless, there was a downside to the win for Arsenal as Cesc Fabregas is now a fitness doubt for their mid-week group stage UEFA Champions League match against Shaktar Donetsk. Wenger commented on his captain’s injury problems, the Frenchmen said, "Cesc
played a bit within himself. He had a bit of tension in his hamstring. Let's hope he has no setback, at half-time, I had a hesitation to take him off. Then I left him on, I thought 'just for 10 or 15 minutes, but in the end he got better and better."
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