MATCH SPY: Adebayor fires blanks in first goalless draw at Emirates
ARSENAL 0-0 WEST HAM UNITED Saturday January 31 Att: 60,109 West Ham stole a point in the first ever league game to end in a goalless draw at Emirates as Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to 10 Barclays Premier League games. Abou Diaby struck the wood
ARSENAL 0-0 WEST HAM UNITED
Saturday January 31
Att: 60,109
West Ham stole a point in the first ever league game to end in a goalless draw at Emirates as Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to 10 Barclays Premier League games.
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Abou Diaby struck the woodwork early on with a deflected header while misfiring Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor missing two good chances after the break to give the Gunners a precious lead as the Hammers frustrated their hosts.
Diaby later pick up a thigh injury which will keep him out for at least a fortnight, as he joined Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabregas and Tomas Rosicky on the treatment table But the real talking point was leading scorer Robin van Persie's shock demotion to the bench before finally being called upon in the final half hour.
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"It was done not to get him injured," explained Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger. "We have to be cautious with him ... we have had bad experiences when we pushed him to play lots of games."
He was also happy with the performance, if not the result "We gave everything for 90 minutes and restricted them to nothing.
"There was a great desire and I could not fault the spirit, but we did lack some creativity in the final ball and some sharpness."
Another sell-out Emirates crowd were not impressed at the last whistle - and Wenger sympathised.
"Fans want to win the game and when you do not win, they are not happy, we understand that," he admitted.
The in-form Hammers extended their own unbeaten run to eight games, but assistant boss Steve Clarke defended their defensive approach.
"We didn't come here just to defend, but sometimes you end up doing that against very good sides.
