GREEN A HAMMER SAVIOUR
Arsenal 0 West Ham 1 Zamora 45 Premier League, April 7, 2007
MATT BOZEAT
WEST HAM headed to the Emirates hoping for a miracle.
Alan Curbishley’s team were five points adrift of safety at the bottom of the Premier League, with only seven games left – and nobody had won at the Emirates yet.
Arsenal had moved there after 93 years at Highbury and, of their first 22 matches at their new home in all competitions, the Gunners had sent 13 teams home empty-handed and drawn the other nine matches.
That form had put them in the race for Champions League places, while West Ham had more modest ambitions.
Back-to-back wins over Blackburn and Middlesbrough were not enough to lift them out of the drop zone. To have any chance of dodging defeat at Arsenal, Curbishley knew he needed a “10/10 performance” from his goalkeeper Robert Green (below).
Green, a £2million arrival from Norwich the previous summer, was expected to be busy at the Emirates – and so it turned out.
The bombardment started early, with Green denying Cesc Fabregas and Freddie Ljungberg in one-on-ones.
He kept denying Arsenal and, in first-half stoppage time, West Ham had a rare attack.
Lucas Neill thumped a long ball forward that dropped over Kolo Toure’s shoulder and into the path of Hammers striker Bobby Zamora.
He sent a 20-yard shot looping over stranded keeper Jens Lehmann and just under the bar.
The home crowd were stunned and Gunners boss Arsene Wenger complained the goal was offside.
After the break, Green saved from Gilberto Silva and his left glove came to the Irons’ rescue when Emmanuel Adebayor steered his header goalwards from six yards out.
Green could not get near a Fabregas piledriver – but the ball smacked off his crossbar.
“The Arsenal players were smiling in disbelief because they just couldn’t score,” recalled Green.
“Carlton Cole reckoned there was a Jedi forcefield around my goal !
Green would later add: “Without doubt, that was my greatest game!”