Arsenal for once happy to win ugly after Thomas Verlaelen's dismissal

Those renowned for their beauty tend to hide indoors when suffering a tick or acne and there have been times when Arsenal seemed to be the sort of team that would rather not be exposed to the glare of the spotlight that accompanies success unless their achievements were aesthetically pleasing. However, just as Cesc Fàbregas was prepared to play with a beard grown to disguise evidence of a neck infection, at present Arsenal mind little how prettily they might win the title.

Down to ten men for a little more than half the game and with the lumbering Sol Campbell and inexperienced Alexandre Song in central defence once Thomas Vermaelen had been dismissed, Arsène Wenger’s team had to be prepared to be pragmatic. It would be stretching it to state that Arsenal hoofed their way to victory but they did graft.

Arsenal are becoming adept at ignoring snide remarks. A side that collapse in adversity? A side that can be physically intimidated? A team ill equipped to last the pace of a tough title race?

“If you had listened to the predictions then we should not have even bothered starting the championship and we would have paid not to go down,” Wenger said.

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The manager likes to emphasise how young his players are, as if he, too, cannot believe how they have adapted this season. It sounded like an excuse before, that silverware was doubly difficult for the less experienced to chase. Now, though, it sounds more like a dig at the ageing team at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal have the energy and the fearlessness of youth rather than the recklessness of it.

Arsenal had taken the lead long before Vermaelen was punished for nudging over Guillermo Franco. After a neat interchange of passes with Nicklas Bendtner in the fifth minute, Denilson fired a shot of impressive precision past Robert Green. The Brazil midfield player spoilt the moment with an overly rehearsed, gyrating celebration but the goal appeared to herald a goal-fest.

Instead, West Ham United were allowed some possession and, gratified, they were sprightly and optimistic. That sunny disposition evaporated when Alessandro Diamanti fluffed his penalty kick, allowing Manuel Almunia to be afforded rare hero status for the ensuing save. The half-time whistle then blew, which gave Gianfranco Zola the chance to reignite his players’ self-belief and for five minutes they scampered happily about. Curiously, they failed to maintain the pressure.

“I think we lost our composure,” Zola, the West Ham manager, said. “We did very well for the first five minutes and moved the ball around. We became impatient. We lost the shape and energy.”

Quite how a team can lose interest when they are so close to the relegation zone is a question that has to trouble Zola. West Ham simply do not play like a team in danger. This is partly because they have several players of a mid-table calibre, partly because they indulge in flair and partly because they probably do not believe relegation is realistic.

There are worse teams than West Ham in the Premier League. But tomorrow they face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Upton Park. This will be a fascinating contest, not least because Mick McCarthy, the Wolves manager, decided many months ago that his team needed fully to comprehend and accept that they were in a relegation battle. Against Arsenal, there were few clues that West Ham have adopted the same tack.

“You are playing against ten men, you are playing very well and you are playing at Arsenal; you get excited,” Zola said. “You want to sort out situations on your own. That was the difference. When you are 11 versus ten, you have to use the whole team. You have to use the superiority in areas they cannot get to quickly.”

There is no doubt Arsenal will miss Vermaelen when they play Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on Saturday, but there is a faint whiff of defiance about the club, a sense that obstacles can be fun.

“If we want to have a future then we have to show mental quality and not give up, no matter what happens,” Wenger said. In fact, the event that his players had most trouble handling was the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals the previous day. The knowledge that Arsenal had been paired with Barcelona was a distraction, according to Wenger.

“There is a lot of time to think about Barcelona,” Fàbregas, the Arsenal captain, said. “Our first priority is Birmingham and that is the sign of champions, taking things game by game.”

Fàbregas drew the handball — it looked as if the Spaniard was deliberately tempting Matthew Upson to handle — that gave Arsenal a penalty. The spot-kick by Fàbregas was as composed as Diamanti’s had been nervy and the home fans, delighted by the palpable sense that their team were winning the battle, sang that they only had ten men. It was a necessary reminder because West Ham had clearly forgotten. Arsenal wasted time on occasion and looked for free kicks, classic weapons when a man down.

“They tried to use all their experience and that is a sign that Arsenal are becoming very mature,” Zola said of such antics. “Arsenal, along with Barcelona, are the team who are playing the best football in Europe probably. They are very good to watch. Whether they are going to be able to do that until the end, I don’t know. That is the question that everybody is asking.”

But they are not asking that at the Emirates Stadium, they are wondering, instead, just how close are they to lifting a trophy.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): M Almunia 7 E Eboué 6 S Campbell 5 T Vermaelen 5 G Clichy 5 Denilson 7 A Song 8 S Nasri 5 F Fàbregas 7 A Arshavin 5 N Bendtner 6. Substitutes: A Diaby 5 (for Bendtner, 58min), B Sagna (for Nasri, 74), Eduardo da Silva (for Arshavin, 84). Not used: L Fabianski, M Silvestre, T Walcott, T Rosicky. Next: Birmingham City (a).

West Ham (4-4-1-1): R Green 5 J Spector 6 J Tomkins 6 M Upson 5 F Daprela 5 A Diamanti 6 V Behrami 5 R Kovac 5 J Stanislas 5 Mido 5 G Franco 4. Substitutes: C Cole 6 (for Franco, 57min), M Noble 5 (for Kovac, 70), B McCarthy (for Mido, 75). Not used: M Stech, J Spence, H Ilunga, Ilan. Next: Wolverhampton Wanderers (h).

Referee: M Atkinson. Attendance: 60,077

source timesonline.co.uk