Wenger's substitutions ruined us this week.
Why he thought he'd make do with a team that had done nothing of note throughout the second half and whose lead had been slashed to one goal, I will never know. It took until the 82nd minute, with the scores level, for him to throw on Bendtner for Eboue. It was clear from the kickoff that Bendtner was needed as the West Ham back four was beating us to every header in the final third. That said, considering Eboue had been by far the most effective of the front three throughout the game, the change in personnel was still wrong; Arshavin was having a day off and should never have stayed on for 90 minutes, and Bendtner would have offered much more even if he was being deployed on the opposite flank. We were fortunate to take a 2-0 lead, more so to maintain it well into the second half.
The refereeing was poor, and I'm sure the West Ham fans will agree. Foy made mistake after mistake, and exacerbated the situation by panicking and trying to account for them. I can only imagine his inner turmoil: chasing a ball around for 90 minutes at his age, with so many big players rushing past him, so many people shouting and so many rules to remember; the poor chap must have been confused.
The free kick which led to their first goal was particularly grinding. Foy turned down a fairly dubious penalty shout moments before and, seeing the fury on the faces of West Ham players and fans alike, tried to win them back at the first opportunity. Zavon Hines scampered towards the penalty area, where Diaby was standing twiddling his thumbs; his rhino-like 3-foot radius of footballing vision breached, the Frenchman lethargically moved to challenge Hines, but no sooner had he raised a foot than Hines had run face first into his chest. Frustrating enough that this somehow constituted a foul by Diaby - infuriating that Diaby let the 2 foot tall winger muscle him to the ground.
I'm not entirely convinced by Wenger's defence of how Mannone handled the free kick, but he's been exceptional until now so I will stand by him. I don't think any of our players can be blamed for how things transpired, even though I think the penalty was a fair shout and Song had panicked.
Obviously, with the scores level, Foy realised he had upset us so tried his best to make amends. He chose the right player to send off in Scott Parker - he just forgot to find a justifiable time to do so.
Why he thought he'd make do with a team that had done nothing of note throughout the second half and whose lead had been slashed to one goal, I will never know. It took until the 82nd minute, with the scores level, for him to throw on Bendtner for Eboue. It was clear from the kickoff that Bendtner was needed as the West Ham back four was beating us to every header in the final third. That said, considering Eboue had been by far the most effective of the front three throughout the game, the change in personnel was still wrong; Arshavin was having a day off and should never have stayed on for 90 minutes, and Bendtner would have offered much more even if he was being deployed on the opposite flank. We were fortunate to take a 2-0 lead, more so to maintain it well into the second half.
The refereeing was poor, and I'm sure the West Ham fans will agree. Foy made mistake after mistake, and exacerbated the situation by panicking and trying to account for them. I can only imagine his inner turmoil: chasing a ball around for 90 minutes at his age, with so many big players rushing past him, so many people shouting and so many rules to remember; the poor chap must have been confused.
The free kick which led to their first goal was particularly grinding. Foy turned down a fairly dubious penalty shout moments before and, seeing the fury on the faces of West Ham players and fans alike, tried to win them back at the first opportunity. Zavon Hines scampered towards the penalty area, where Diaby was standing twiddling his thumbs; his rhino-like 3-foot radius of footballing vision breached, the Frenchman lethargically moved to challenge Hines, but no sooner had he raised a foot than Hines had run face first into his chest. Frustrating enough that this somehow constituted a foul by Diaby - infuriating that Diaby let the 2 foot tall winger muscle him to the ground.
I'm not entirely convinced by Wenger's defence of how Mannone handled the free kick, but he's been exceptional until now so I will stand by him. I don't think any of our players can be blamed for how things transpired, even though I think the penalty was a fair shout and Song had panicked.
Obviously, with the scores level, Foy realised he had upset us so tried his best to make amends. He chose the right player to send off in Scott Parker - he just forgot to find a justifiable time to do so.
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