Moyes sees point made at Emirates
ARSENE WENGER’S travels in the east prompted him to divulge a deep admiration for the Japanese art of sumo wrestling on the eve of this derby.
In sumo, Wenger explained, the inherent culture of respect for the vanquished prevents the victor from any act of celebration. Indeed, should the triumphant wrestler fail to honour this ancient code, he is stripped of his titles.
Well, in East London last night, there was very little chance of the celebrations boiling over, especially for Wenger and Arsenal.
They had no trouble keeping a lid on their feelings as more points slipped away on a bitterly cold and wet night in the Olympic Park.
Arsenal’s dismal away record took another turn for the worse. Wenger’s team have won only two of nine away from the Emirates Stadium and scored nine goals.
The celebrations came from David Moyes as he claimed another point in the fight against relegation. Whether or not it qualifies as the West Ham Way will be debated but in the short term it is what the team need in their scrap at the bottom of the table.
The signs of improvement under Moyes have been clear enough — an injection of desire, midfield bite and energy, greater determination and more organisation. West Ham’s defensive unit protected Adrian but the keeper contributed with a fine save to keep out a freekick from Alexis Sanchez as the pressure grew.
Olivier Giroud and Jack Wilshere had been impressive from the bench as Arsenal rescued a point at Southampton on Sunday and they were rewarded with their first Premier League starts of the campaign.
Wilshere, on West Ham’s list of January targets, was making his first league start for Arsenal since May 2016 and he was soon on the ball, threading passes into Giroud’s feet and searching for the return.
The England midfielder was one of four products of the club’s youth system in Wenger’s team. The others were Hector Bellerin, Alex Iwobi and Ainsley MaitlandNiles, making his full Premier League debut.
The Arsenal boss reverted to a back-four for the first time since April in an attempt to solve the problems away from home, where they have been timid in attack and vulnerable at the back.
West Ham, however, are growing in confidence and look far more solid under Moyes. They thought they had taken an early lead when Marko Arnautovic found the net with less than a quarter of an hour gone, but he had drifted half a yard offside. Still, here was a warning for Arsenal.
The contest was more open in the second half and Arnautovic turned a volley over in the opening seconds.
Arsenal attacked with more purpose and more risk, and this offered West Ham hope on the counter-attack and Hernandez hit the bar in the 90th minute, but it ended goalless and West Ham led the celebrations.