Green fingers and green finishing

Arsenal 0 West Ham 1:Suddenly and against considerable odds West Ham are part of the Easter rising. By becoming the first team to beat Arsenal at the Emirates, having been the last to beat them at Highbury, Alan Curbishley's side have not only sent a fresh tremor of apprehension through the lower reaches of the Premiership, they have also raised the possibility that Arsene Wenger's team might not after all be playing in next season's Champions League.

For the moment Arsenal are still fourth and West Ham 19th, but the margins have narrowed. Arsenal could be overtaken by fifth-placed Bolton either today or when the teams meet at the Emirates on Saturday. West Ham, who are not playing today, could fall further behind Wigan and Charlton but might equally find themselves travelling to Sheffield United at the weekend seeking a position of safety.

An increasingly fluid situation was created on Saturday by a moment of inspired impudence from Bobby Zamora, the West Ham striker who has rediscovered his early-season scoring form, and an afternoon of sheer brilliance from their goalkeeper, Robert Green, combined with Arsenal's chronic inability to turn outstanding passing and movement into anything more than near-misses. It was, in short, a tale of Green fingers and green finishing.

Green had the game of his life and given their remaining fixtures West Ham will trust he has a few lives in hand. They still have to play Chelsea, Everton, Bolton and Manchester United and asking Green to repeat Saturday's heroics while hoping their opponents are similarly profligate will be a tall order.

Green's goalkeeping and Zamora's winner apart, the most impressive aspect of West Ham's performance was the way they retained their composure after being outplayed for much of the first half and then steadily eroded Arsenal's confidence in the second. As Arsenal became increasingly frustrated the West Ham defence grew in confidence with every save Green made.

Not that Green was just about making saves, for he kept goal in the truest sense of the term. His judgment in leaving his line was impeccable as he came out to deny Freddy Ljungberg a shot in the 11th minute and again when he advanced to thwart Jeremie Aliadiere's attempt to beat him at the near post in the 66th.

His handling was flawless and he knew all his angles. His numerous saves jostled one another for superlatives, the one-handed stretch to keep out a point-blank header from Gilberto Silva just pipping an earlier dive to palm away the Brazilian's shot.

"When you play anyone in the top four you need your goalkeeper to get 10 out of 10, perhaps 11 or 12 out of 10," said Curbishley, "and Greeny has done that today."

The Arsenal supporters booed their team off at half-time and again at the end. "It is part of our job to deal with the frustrations of the fans," Wenger said diplomatically but even if allowances are made for outstanding saves, dogged defending and the fact that shots from Cesc Fabregas and Gilberto hit bar and post, Arsenal's failure to match intricate movements with incisive finishing has long been the story of their season and has cost them dearly.

The fact that West Ham had two chances and took one of them did not help the home fans' humour. The decisive goal came at the end of first-half stoppage time when Carlos Tevez slipped the ball back to Lucas Neill whose high ball forward found Zamora sprinting clear of Kolo Toure, who had been slow to react. As Jens Lehmann came off his line Zamora left the goalkeeper stranded with a lob which sailed over his head and dipped in under the bar.

Guardian Service