tough walk in the park

Pheeeew! That was quite a close one; one that could have had a different ending if it wasn't for the clinical prowess of theo walcott, and the brilliance of santi cazorla. Olivier Giroud has finally scored his first Premier League goal for Arsenal as the Gunners came from behind to beat West Ham. This  was the perfect response from the Gunners' after suffering their first defeat by Chelsea last weekend .

Arsenal piled up the pressure during the early exchanges,so when West Ham's goal came in 21st minute, it was a bit of a surprise. Diame was fed by George McCartney down the left and the he skipped past Aaron Ramsey before curling a glorious effort into the far corner for his first Hammers goal. Giroud equalized just before the break when he poked in Lukas Podolski's cross at the near post. Giroud almost scored in the first two minutes when Jussi Jaaskelainen tipped his shot round the post and Carroll blocked the French striker's goal-bound header later in the first half.

Carroll had caused the gunners defensive pair all evening, winning most of the aerial duels, and constantly providing a physical foil for the likes of kevin nolan  and carlton cole to run into the spaces.The west ham striker almost made it 2-1 but his header from a long diagonal ball was just wide with Vito Mannone beaten to the delivery, while Nolan wasted a great chance when clean through on goal.

Having got themselves back on level terms, Arsenal took time to continue with the same attacking verve as the first period.The gunners were on top for large parts of the game, and it came as no surprise that  Arsene Wenger's team deservedly extended their unbeaten record against the Hammers to nine games and moved to fifth in the Premier League table. West ham had to defend tirelessly throughout the game as they came up against a midfield again marshaled by the impressive Santi Cazorla. Walcott and Cazorla's late goals in the space of six minutes sealed an impressive comeback for the gunners.as Arsenal began to assert their superiority on the game. Walcott latched onto Giroud's well timed through ball just 16 minutes after coming on to score his fourth goal of the season with a precise near-post shot. Another chance fell to Nolan, but he fired over from the edge of the penalty box, and that miss proved costly once Cazorla smashed in Arsenal's third from 20 yards to cap a superb individual performance.

So its back to business for the emirates outfit, with their only worry being the loss of the impressive kerian gibbs to injury.

Till next time.......