Daily WHUFC News - 14th December 2017

Resolute Hammers make it four points from two derbies
WHUFC.com

West Ham United 0 – 0 Arsenal
Premier League

West Ham United made it four points from two London derbies in a week as
they stood firm against Arsenal at London Stadium on Wednesday night.
Neither side could find a way through as the Hammers again showed the
defensive resilience which has served them so well through their run of
games at the top end of the Premier League table. Alex Iwobi hit the post
for the visitors in the first half, and Adrian had to save from Alexis
Sanchez in the second, but West Ham came so close to taking all three points
at the death when Chicharito's shot thudded against the crossbar and out.
The Hammers named the same eleven who defended so stoutly against Chelsea
five days previously and they started with the same diligence against the
Gunners. Alexis Sanchez had a low shot gathered in by Adrian with nine
minutes on the clock, but it was at the other end that the first real moment
of excitement materialised, as Marko Arnautovic rose to nod home an Arthur
Masuaku cross, only to have the goal ruled out for offside. There was a
scare for the Hammers just before the half hour when Jack Wilshere and
Sanchez combined neatly in midfield for the latter to slip a pass to Iwobi.
He cut inside onto his left foot and shot for goal, finding the outside of
the near post with his effort. Seven minutes before the interval, Aaron
Cresswell was brave at the back post to block Olivier Giroud's overhead
kick, but the Hammers would have been happy with how they restricted the
Gunners before the break.
Arsene Wenger's men looked to up the tempo on the game's resumption and they
came close to opening the scoring on 56 when a blocked Sanchez shot fell
fortuitously for Mesut Ozil, who prodded wide when well placed. The Hammers
were perhaps a touch fortunate again 14 minutes later when Giroud nodded
back unselfishly for Wilshere, only for the midfielder to smash over the
bar. Arsenal's threat was growing, but Adrian was equal to Sanchez's 30-yard
free-kick three minutes later. That appeared to be that, until the final
minute when Laurent Koscielny's loose square pass so nearly led to a Hammers
winner. The hosts pounced on the ball, and Mark Noble passed to Chicharito
inside the area. His shot beat Petr Cech, crashed off the bar, down on the
line and agonisingly away to safety.

West Ham United: Adrian, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Zabaleta, Noble (c),
Obiang, Masuaku, Lanzini, Arnautovic, Antonio (Chicharito 82)
Substitutes: Hart, Collins, Rice, Carroll, Ayew, Sakho
Booked: Lanzini, Reid

Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Koscielny (c), Monreal, Xhaka, Wilshere,
Maitland-Niles, Ozil, Iwobi (Welbeck 70), Sanchez (Lacazette 82), Giroud
Substitutes: Ospina, Chambers, Kolasinac, Coquelin, Elneny

Referee: Jonathan Moss
Attendance: 56,921

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Noble and Arnautovic delighted with consecutive clean sheets
WHUFC.com

Two clean sheets in as many games and four points in the Premier League is a
great reward for West Ham United's hard work in consecutive London derbies,
according to Mark Noble and Marko Arnautovic. The Hammers secured a goalless
draw against Arsenal at London Stadium on Wednesday night and that followed
Saturday's memorable victory against champions Chelsea in east London. And
four points could have been six against the Gunners had substitute
Chicharito's agonising late strike found the back of the net after coming
off the underside of the crossbar. That said, skipper Noble admitted a point
was a fair result and was delighted with his side's return from a tough run
of fixtures, which began with a trip to Manchester City's Etihad Stadium a
week and a half ago. He said: "To keep two clean sheets in two games, in
five days, it's fantastic and four points is a really good reward for that.
"When you come out the game at Everton when we lost 4-0 and you go to Man
City and then Chelsea and Arsenal after, to be honest, you dread it in the
position you're in. "But the boys have worked hard and we believed we could
get something. "I said on Saturday, sometimes against these teams with such
a good amount of special players, you just need to defend. Last year we got
done here by the so called bigger teams. "But tonight we defended well and
we could have snatched it at the end. Chicha always hits the target but
you'd hope he would bury them. I think it was a good save in the end from
Cech."

Arnautovic was Saturday's hero, scoring David Moyes' side's sixth-minute
winner against Antonio Conte's Chelsea, and it could have been a similar
story against Arsenal. Early in the first half, Arthur Masuaku crossed for
the Austrian who found the back of the net with a perfect header, however
the summer signing's celebrations were cut short by the offside flag.
Arnautovic remained a constant threat throughout, however, and was named the
broadcaster's Man of the Match. "I think as a team, we have worked very hard
for the couple of weeks," the attacker explained after the draw. "We wanted
to keep a clean sheet and it's up to us.
"I have to say well done to the team because we have fought a lot and now we
need some results to be rewarded with three points. "I have enjoyed since
the first day to be here with the team. I had a difficult start that
everyone is behind me, especially my teammates and they're getting me going.
"I'm fit and healthy and I want to help the team and the Club to go
upwards."

While Arnautovic has been leading the line in attack, Noble – who returned
to West Ham's starting XI on Saturday – praised the way the defence have
responded to Moyes' focus on preventing the opposition from scoring. "You
look at the way we're set up; the gaffer came in and thought we had to stop
shipping goals, for one," he contined. "I think we obviously got off to a
bad start and our confidence was low. That was the whole club. "The
performance against Man City – you go there dreading to play at the Etihad
but to get two clean sheets since against Arsenal and Chelsea is great. "You
see what Chelsea did to Huddersfield the other night. They're two massive
games for us."

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Moyes: I am thrilled with the way we have played
WHUFC.com

David Moyes was rightly proud of his team after West Ham United earned a
hard-fought goalless draw with Arsenal at London Stadium. The Hammers were
resolute for the third game in succession and kept their second straight
clean sheet, and could even have taken all three points had Petr Cech not
tipped Chicharito's last-minute shot onto the underside of the crossbar.
Having taken four points out of six from home games with Chelsea and
Arsenal, following a hard-fought 2-1 defeat at runaway leaders Manchester
City, though, Moyes was in a justifiably positive frame of mind. "I am
thrilled with the way we have played in the last three games," he confirmed.
"When I took the job, I looked at these three fixtures and thought 'Oh no,
here we go!' but our best performances have come in them. "Certainly
defensively, we've tightened up. We've not conceded any goals in the last
couple of games and we were unlucky against Manchester City, but we have got
to take the positives. "I want the team to play much better, I want the
football to be better and I want us to create better chances but, at the
moment, it's one step at a time."

Arsenal undoubtedly held the upper hand in terms of possession, territory
and chances created, but West Ham held firm with a combination of
resilience, organisation and sheer hard work. With Angelo Ogbonna imperious
alongside Winston Reid and Aaron Cresswell, Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang
industrious and Marko Arnautovic and Michail Antonio running hard in attack,
Adrian's goal was seldom threatened. And when it was, the Spaniard made two
decent saves to deny Alexis Sanchez and a third from Granit Xhaka's
long-range strike. "It was another really difficult game and we knew this
period was going to be tough, but I have to give the players great credit
because we defended really well, we are more resolute and harder to play
against. "Sometimes, when you do that, you get the odd chance that you can
win the game with and, as you saw, that nearly happened. "It would have been
greedy but if you had seen the way the players have worked in recent weeks,
and what we've demanded of them, you would have said your work deserved
that. "All credit to them because they have really pulled together. The
spirit at the training ground is really good. They're all at it for each and
they're not giving an inch, and we don't want them to.

Next up on West Ham's fixture list is a trip to Stoke City on Saturday
afternoon. Mark Hughes' side have won just one of their last seven Premier
League matches and Moyes knows his own team will have more opportunities to
express themselves at the Britannia Stadium. And when those opportunities do
come about, the Scot said the Hammers have to take them. "Against the better
teams, you're trying to make sure you don't concede so you don't lose. It's
no good going toe-to-toe with them. "I think the other games will give us
the opportunity to go onto the front foot, rather than always sitting back
in. "But I've got to say, we have got a threat with the two boys we have got
up front at the minute, and we've also got Andy Carroll, Chicharito, Diafra
Sakho and Andre Ayew, so we've got players who can score. I feel as if we
can get the bit at the back right, it will give us a good chance."

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West Ham United 0-0 Arsenal
By Neil Johnston
BBC Sport

West Ham manager David Moyes said he is "really enjoying" life with the
Hammers after his side earned a valuable point in their fight against
relegation by holding Arsenal. The Gunners are without a Premier League win
in three games and are now down to seventh in the table as West Ham
continued their revival under new manager Moyes. They followed up Saturday's
win over champions Chelsea by holding Arsene Wenger's side at London
Stadium. "There's a good spirit at the moment, they're all at it together,"
said Moyes, whose side remain in the relegation places but are level on
points with Crystal Palace and West Brom, who are above the drop zone on
goal difference. "I want them to be more robust and we're still a bit easy
to play against. We're trying to improve that and we want to make our
football better. "There's a lot to improve but the first thing was to stop
conceding goals. I'm really enjoying it here."

Arsenal's Nigeria forward Alex Iwobi struck the outside of Adrian's post as
Wenger's side failed to score in the Premier League for the first time in
three months. West Ham also hit the woodwork in the closing stages through
substitute Javier Hernandez after the Gunners failed to clear. Arsenal could
have climbed to fourth with a win, but the draw leaves them a point behind
Tottenham, who are in the final Champions League place. "There's always
concern about the table as we are here to win games," said Wenger. "We had
so much of the ball, but it was very frustrating because we could even have
lost it at the end."

The statistics demonstrate that Wenger's side predictably dominated
possession but they did not create enough chances as France forward Giroud,
starting in place of leading scorer Alexandre Lacazette, failed to mark his
first league start of the season with a goal. Wenger named three academy
graduates in his starting line-up - Jack Wilshere, who was making his first
league start for the club since 15 May 2016, Iwobi and Ainsley
Maitland-Niles. Yet Arsenal, who are closer in terms of points to the bottom
of the table than they are the top, lacked the quality, composure and ideas
to unlock the second worst defence in the Premier League. The Gunners
managed just three shots on target despite enjoying 70% possession -
including Sanchez forcing Adrian into a full-stretch save from a free-kick -
but, in truth, West Ham were rarely troubled. Wilshere blazed another good
opening over as Arsenal failed to find a solution to their poor away form.
Wenger's side have won just two of their nine top-flight games away from the
Emirates this season, with eight different clubs earning more points away
from home in the league than Arsenal. It will therefore perhaps be a relief
to the Frenchman that Arsenal's next three games are all at home.

West Ham responding to Moyes
West Ham have still only won once in 10 league games and failed to have a
single shot on target in a Premier League home match for the first time
since August 2013. Yet this performance, on the back of last weekend's win,
nevertheless provided further evidence the Hammers are improving under
Moyes. They were compact, well organised and hard working off the ball.
Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Creswell typified West Ham's dogged determination
with a string of vital blocks and clearances. That kind of commitment helped
a defence that conceded 32 goals in the first 15 games record back-to-back
clean sheets against Chelsea and Arsenal. And it might have been even better
for the Hammers. Hernandez came off the bench with eight minutes to go and
almost scored a stoppage-time winner.
Arsenal's defence did not clear properly, allowing the former Manchester
United forward to shoot from 12 yards but he hit the underside of the bar,
the ball bouncing off the line and back into play. After a narrow defeat to
leaders Manchester City, a win against Chelsea and a hard-earned point
against Arsenal, West Ham will hope to maintain their momentum against teams
in the bottom half of the table. They are at Stoke City on Saturday before
hosting Newcastle and then travelling to Bournemouth. By the time West Brom
visit in their first game of 2018 the transfer window will be open, and
Hammers co-owner David Sullivan stated in his programme notes that the club
will be making "two or three" new signings in January.

Man of the match - Mark Noble (West Ham)
Captain Mark Noble has been in and out of West Ham's team since David Moyes
arrived last month but the Hammers midfielder was always in the action
against Arsenal, covering 6.18km in the first 45 minutes alone - more than
any other player

Travel sick Gunners - the stats
Only once in Premier League history have Arsenal won fewer than nine points
from their first nine away games of a season (eight in 2005-06).
Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in two of their past three Premier League
away games, as many as they had kept in their previous 14 on the road.
Alexis Sanchez had more shots (six) and created more chances (four) than any
other player in the match.
Olivier Giroud has scored in just one of his last eight Premier League
starts for Arsenal.

What's next?
Moyes' Hammers are away to fellow strugglers Stoke City on Saturday (15:00
GMT) while at the same time Arsenal will hope to return to winning ways at
home to Newcastle United.

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WEST HAM 0-0 ARSENAL – MATCH REPORT
AUTHOR: BRIAN KNOX. PUBLISHED: 13 DECEMBER 2017 AT 10:44PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Match Report by @WestHamAmerican

West Ham drew to Arsenal during a midweek December match at the London
Stadium. The hosts looked to build on their massive win over Chelsea over
the weekend and a London derby against the Gunners served as a great
opportunity to continue the momentum. For Arsène Wenger's side, they
looked to get back to winning after a 1-1 draw at Southampton.

The first half opened with West Ham continuing their XI behind the ball
strategy employed to finish the Chelsea match. David Moyes kept an
unchanged team sheet from the previous match, but as the half wore on West
Ham took some chances on the attack.

The best opportunity was in the 14th minute as Marco Arnautovic headed a
Arthur Masuaku cross into the net bet was flagged for being half a step
offside and the goal was disallowed.

Adrian and the defenders did well, once again against the pace of Alexis
Sanchez and the other Arsenal attackers.

The second half featured the Gunners maintaining possession and taking a
number of off target shots on the West Ham goal. A cold London rain also
joined the match during the halftime break. It was a mixture of luck and
good goal keeping kept the match scoreless despite West Ham's challenges
keeping the ball. For the entire match Arsenal held a 70%-30% advantage on
possession.

Late in the match, Michael Antonio was showing similar exhaustion that he
had over the weekend. Moyes brought on Javier Hernandez, while Lacazette
replaced Sanchez. Bringing on Chicharito almost looked to pay immediate
dividends as he took what appeared to be a game winning shot from 12 yards
out, that trickled off the crossbar. The entire London Stadium erupted
before seeing that his strike hit the underside of the bar and was inches
from giving West Ham a 90th minute game-winner.

After that disappointment, the hosts were able to close out the stoppage
time and escape with a point. Taking four points over a three match
gauntlet of Manchester City/ Chelsea/ Arsenal is a feat that most West Ham
fans would have agreed to given the poor play this club has displayed over
the current season, however missing a couple of great chances despite an
electric atmosphere at the London Stadium, it's a tough pill to swallow.
Moyes and his team look to improve their scoring against a very struggling
Stoke City side that was destroyed by Spurs over the weekend. Mark Hughes
is very much embattled and Arnautovic will return to his former club in
great form. While West Ham is level with safety on points, a good
performance at Stoke can give the Hammer's supporters some relief this
Christmas.

For all the latest updates on team fitness and other news, please check out
TheWestHamWay.co.uk all week long.

West Ham: Adrian, Reid, Cresswell, Zabaleta, Arnautovic, Lanzini, Obiang,
Noble, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Antonio
Subs: Hart, Rice, Collins, Ayew, Carroll, Sakho, Hernandez (82')

Arsenal: Cech, Koscielny, Sanchez, Wilshere, Ozil, Giroud, Iwobi, Monreal,
Bellerin, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles
Subs: Ospina, Chambers, Kolasinac, Colquelin, Elneny, Welbeck (70'),
Lacazette (82')

Referee: Jonathon Moss

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West Ham boss David Moyes hails two morale-boosting results after following
up Chelsea win with Arsenal draw
By Michael Hincks
Last Updated: 13/12/17 11:54pm
SSN

David Moyes believes his West Ham side are growing in confidence after
following up their 1-0 win over Chelsea with a 0-0 draw at home to Arsenal
on Wednesday. West Ham's tricky start to December saw them face Manchester
City before hosting Chelsea and Arsenal. And though Moyes' side fell 2-1 to
leaders City, they have gone on to take four points in their next two games
to move level with West Brom and Crystal Palace. West Ham remain in the
bottom three, but Moyes was pleased to see his side hold out against
Arsenal, while they could have even stolen it late on, only for Javier
Hernandez to hit the bar in the 89th minute. "We could have [nicked it]. It
was a really good performance by the players and certainly a disciplined and
organised performance again which we have needed in the three games," Moyes
said. "Sometimes if you do that, you hang in and you stick with it then you
get yourself some opportunities and I thought we'd done that at the end. "I
would say for the majority of the game we would have to praise the boys for
how disciplined they were as defenders and how well they stuck to their task
against a good team that caused us problems. "I think it will give us good
confidence because of the results. If you had given me four points against
Chelsea and Arsenal… actually we were unlucky against Manchester City. We
were unlucky not to equalise even after we went 2-1 down to make it two
each. "So there are good signs and maybe we can keep this level of
performance up but the performances will have to change because we'll be
playing against a different type of opposition. But I'd have to say we've
done a pretty decent job against these teams."
A second-straight clean sheet will also be music to Moyes' ears, with the
Scot admitting that has been a focus since taking charge in November. "When
we came in [West Ham] were conceding too many goals and I found that even
against Everton. So thankfully we have tightened up a bit. We have made it
better," Moyes added. "Now we need to take it to the next level but if we
don't concede with the forwards and attacking players that we have got we
should have chances of scoring and winning games. As long as we keep it
tight we will always be in the game. "I am really enjoying working with the
players and I am really enjoying working at the club. I think the supporters
have been great. Obviously, the realistic thing is that we know we are at
the wrong end of the table and we have some work to do. "But you have to
start somewhere and you'd have to say the results over the last few games
have given us a good platform to see if we can improve and pick up some wins
in the coming weeks."

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West Ham 0-0 Arsenal: Hammers hold Gunners to goalless draw at London
Stadium
By Michael Hincks
Last Updated: 14/12/17 12:05am
SSN

Olivier Giroud and Jack Wilshere could not inspire Arsenal to victory in
their first Premier League starts of the season as West Ham held them to a
goalless draw at the London Stadium. It very nearly turned into defeat for
Arsenal, but substitute Javier Hernandez saw his effort hit the bar before
bouncing on the goal-line in the final minute of normal time. West Ham
ultimately reduced Arsenal to just three shots on target all match, despite
the visitors enjoying 70% of possession.
The draw leaves Arsenal in seventh - one point behind Tottenham, Liverpool
and Burnley - while West Ham remain 19th, but move level with West Brom and
Crystal Palace on 14 points.

Player ratings
West Ham: Adrian (7), Zabaleta (6), Reid (7), Ogbonna (8), Cresswell (7),
Masuaku (6), Obiang (7), Noble (7), Lanzini (6), Arnautovic (7), Antonio (6)
Subs: Hernandez (n/a)

Arsenal: Cech (6), Bellerin (6), Koscielny (6), Matiland-Niles (6), Monreal
(6), Wilshere (6), Xhaka (6), Sanchez (5), Ozil (6), Iwobi (5), Giroud (5)
Subs: Welbeck (6), Lacazette (n/a)

Man of the match: Angelo Ogbonna

A tight first half saw West Ham carve out the first opportunity, but Marko
Arnautovic was correctly flagged for offside after heading in from Arthur
Masuaku's cross.
Alexis Sanchez then saw his deflected effort sail narrowly over before Alex
Iwobi's strike from a narrow angle cannoned off the near post and away to
safety. West Ham had a penalty appeal turned down after a coming together
between Granit Xhaka and Manuel Lanzini, while Giroud's overhead-kick
attempt was blocked by Aaron Cresswell's hands - though the West Ham
defender opted to feign injury as though the effort had hit him in the face.
After the break, Arnautovic snatched at an effort following Mark Noble's
delightful pass, with the West Ham captain using the pace of the ball to
chest a pass over Nacho Monreal. Arsenal then spurned two great
opportunities, but Mesut Ozil could only stab an attempt wide before
Wilshere fired over from 10 yards out. And while Arsene Wenger turned to
Alexandre Lacazette in the hope of finding a late winner, David Moyes
brought on Hernandez with 10 minutes to go, and it was the Mexican who came
within a whisker of scoring a winner after some calamitous Arsenal
defending. Only once in Premier League history have Arsenal won fewer than
nine points from their first nine away games of a season (8 in 2005-06).
Eight different clubs have won more points away from home in the Premier
League than Arsenal (9) this season - Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester
Utd, Liverpool, Burnley, Watford, Leicester & Spurs.

West Ham failed to have a single shot on target in a Premier League home
match for the first time since August 2013, in a 0-1 defeat against Stoke.
The Gunners are now winless in three consecutive Premier League games for
the first time since April.

Man of the match - Angelo Ogbonna
Moyes will be delighted with his side's defensive display at the London
Stadium, and it was Ogbonna who put in a rock-solid performance to keep
Arsenal at bay.
Time and again, Ogbonna was there prevent this visitors from scoring, making
three blocks and 11 clearances - the highest of any player in both
categories.

The managers
David Moyes: "We could have [nicked it]. It was a really good performance by
the players and certainly a disciplined and organised performance again
which we have needed in the three games. "Sometimes if you do that, you hang
in and you stick with it then you get yourself some opportunities and I
thought we'd done that at the end. "I would say for the majority of the game
we would have to praise the boys for how disciplined they were as defenders
and how well they stuck to their task against a good team that caused us
problems."

Arsene Wenger: "There are some draws that are frustrating. It is one of
them. It was 10 against 10 in the final third. "They defended very well and
are in a highly defensive phase at the moment and it works for them at the
moment. They did that against [Manchester] City, they did that against
Chelsea and they did that tonight."

The pundit - Iain Dowie
"West Ham defended great tonight. They were disciplined, they were
organised. If there's anyone you want the ball to fall to it's Hernandez,
and he hits the bar. He should score and then the game's over. Iain Dowie
says Arsenal did not do enough to win against West Ham but was very
impressed with Jack Wilshere, who started for Arsenal for the first time in
the league this season. Iain Dowie says Arsenal did not do enough to win
against West Ham but was very impressed with Jack Wilshere, who started for
Arsenal for the first time in the league this season. "Adrian, I can't
remember a save he had to make. There wasn't enough dynamism. Ozil and
Sanchez were good in their combination play, but they didn't show enough
desire or enough drive, Arsenal. Their passing wasn't good. The one plus,
and it was a huge plus, was Jack Wilshere who was very, very good. For me he
does more in the team than Ramsey does."

What's next?
West Ham travel to Stoke on Saturday for a 3pm kick-off in the Premier
League, while Arsenal are in action at the same time at home to Newcastle.

Arsenal and West Ham will meet once more on December 19, in a Carabao Cup
quarter-final clash at the Emirates.

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