Arsenal 2 - 0 West Ham United: We've Only Got Ten Men

 Thomas Vermaelen's last man foul resulted in Arsenal's first red card of the season. Pic via BBC.

Arsenal 2: Denilson 5, Fabregas 83 (pen)
West Ham United 0

I said this post's titular phrase/chant half-sarcastically before stepping outside at halftime, with a twinge of fear in the voice. But throughout the second half, the Gooners were singing it as boisterously as ever, as if it were a good thing. Indeed, we only had ten men on the pitch; West Ham still looked overwhelmed. And it was amazing.

We were all surprised and confused at the start. Why was Denilson starting in midfield over Abou Diaby? Then within the first five minutes, he showed us all why Arsene Wenger is smarter than us. After some nice work down the left flank by Gael Clichy and Andrei Arshavin, a cross was looped in for Nicklas Bendtner. Upson had a chance to clear, but only got the ball as far as Denilson, who proceeded to exchange passes with the tall Dane, then strike a shot past the diving Robert Green, and then he did a hilarious little dance. One nil to the Arsenal.

Arsenal looked poised to start a thrashing of the Hammers early; Denilson had another chance four minutes after his goal but thumped a shot into the ground then Eboue twisted a shot wide in the 21st. Things eventual settled in terms of game pace as the Gunners held their 1-0 lead through the first half. Then the game turned...

In the 44th minute, a through ball was floated ahead for West Ham striker Guillermo Franco. Thomas Vermaelen nudges the striker in the back and Franco goes down. The assistant referee twirls his flag to call a foul, and it's in the box so it's going to be a penalty. Then referee Martin Atkinson comes over to book Vermaelen, but since he was the last defender and Franco was judged to be in alone on goal, the card was red and Arsenal was down to ten men.

Calling it a foul was a tremendous stretch and Arsene Wenger was not happy and immediately ran over to argue with the fourth official. Or, as it appeared at first on the television cameras, it looked like he ran over to argue with Gunnersaurus. The rule here, however, is very black and white. Or at least it's supposed to be, but there's no consistency in officiating these days. Atkinson was right to send off Vermaelen, by rule for last man fouls but the call was a weak one to begin with. I expect Arsenal to appeal and also can't figure out if this is a one match ban or three. Different web sites say different things. I always thought professional foul reds were one and violent conduct reds were three.

On the penalty, Manuel Almunia was up to the task. Alessandro Diamanti fired his kick exactly where he had when he equalized on a penalty for West Ham on Vito Mannone at Upton Park in October. Almunia, who replays showed was off his line (remember what I said about consistency in officiating?) guessed right and kept Arsenal up by a goal at halftime.

With Vermaelen sent off, Arsenal dropped Alex Song back to center back and switched from their 4-3-3 style to a 4-4-1 with Bendtner employed as the lone striker. West Ham enjoyed a little more possession with one extra player, but never truly threatened (and this is why we chanted "we've only got ten men" to mock the Hammers in attendance). Carlton Cole hit the post in the 77th minute. Aside from that, it was a lot like West Ham decided not to show up for the second half.

Matthew Upson, who did not clear the ball well enough in the 5th minute which led to Denilson's goal, put the game away for Arsenal by handballing in the box. Cesc Fabregas pounded the penalty straight ahead as Green jumped to his left, Arsenal led 2-0 and we all went nuts at Nevada Smiths. We were going top of the league for at least a day thanks to the arrangement of fixtures.

The atmosphere at the pub was perhaps the best of the season. The Hammers, notoriously loud and kind of annoying, were practically silent the entire game (thank you, early goal). In a way, it was disappointing. What I love about the New York Gooners (let me clarify, NYC Arsenal Supporters) is that we'll always sing all game long, regardless of the score. Also, I started a "Can you hear the Hammers sing?" chant. I believe this counts as the first time I've started singing something and gotten the rest to follow.

A brilliant start to spring. Let's hope the season contains some silverware.