Alex Song's late header for Arsenal breaks West Ham's stout resistance

When you knock on the door as loudly as Arsenal did here in the second half, the law of probability dictates that it has to open eventually. But football does not always work like that and, for so long, it looked as if West Ham would deal another blow to the credibility of Arsenal's title challenge. The ghosts of West Brom could almost be heard to clear their throats.

Rob Green, the West Ham goalkeeper, was ready to take the acclaim as the afternoon's hero. He made a string of excellent saves, most notably from Cesc Fábregas, while the woodwork came to his rescue on a further two occasions.

At the very death, however, just as tempers and nerves were fraying intolerably among the home support, Green's resistance was broken. Whether he ought to have come for Gaël Clichy's tantalising cross was a moot point. What was indisputable was that Alex Song had sensed his moment and nothing was going to deny him. Having arrived at speed, he plunged low to guide a diving header into the net and, at a stroke, spark wild scenes of delight and relief.

"It's always a relief when you score late on," said Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager. "But you can see we have matured. When it does not work for us, the players remain calmer. We have a good chance of the title but we have to show consistency first. We still need to step up a gear. I feel that Song has the taste to go forward, he has added that to his game, even if it's a bit too much for a holding midfielder. But that's our game."

West Ham prop up the table going into November, which is never a good omen in the battle against relegation. Avram Grant, the manager, said that history did not interest him, that there was plenty of time to turn fundamentally decent performances into points. He was particularly pleased with the "fighting spirit" of his players, which was epitomised once again by the captain Scott Parker, who was magnificent.

But there have to be deep concerns in the East End. Despite a bright start, in which Mark Noble featured prominently, West Ham never looked to have the ammunition in the final third to hurt Arsenal. Lukasz Fabianski did not have to make a serious save.

At the other end, meanwhile, they were played through too easily, particularly on their left side, where Herita Ilunga was exposed on a number of occasions. Arsenal sleepwalked through the first-half but they still looked the more threatening team and Green needed to make three smart saves.

Wenger said that he almost took off Fábregas at half-time, as the captain had some tension in his hamstring which will need to be monitored, but he saw his players show greater urgency in the second period, when they swept forward in waves. The in-form Samir Nasri rattled the crossbar with a 35-yard thunderbolt of a free-kick while the substitute Theo Walcott hit the inside of the far post.

The thought that it might be one of those days for Arsenal gathered pace when Green kept out Walcott's deflected shot and then brilliantly repelled Fábregas. Song, though, had other ideas.

Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 30 Oct 10