West Ham 2: Arsenal 2 25th October 2009

West Ham United 2: Arsenal 2 25/10/09 Premiership result

This match was almost three quarters finished before West Ham finally turned up. In the first half Arsenal totally dominated with Van Persie and Gallas both hitting the target. However a Carlton Cole goal in the second half kept the Hammers' hopes alive and they managed to equalise with a controversial penalty just before the 80th minute. Wenger was understandably furious that for the second time in 4 days, the Gooners threw away a lead and ended up with 1 point rather than 3. He may have a valid point that questionable refereeing decisions led to both West Ham goals (awarding a free kick to West Ham which resulted in the first goal and then giving West Ham a penalty for the second) and he may also believe Arsenal should also have been awarded a penalty, but the fact remains that if Arsenal want to win silverware this season, they need to consolidate their leads rather than thrown them away.

There is however some comfort for Gunner fans that Man U and Spurs both lost this weekend. However overall West Ham fans will be the happier as their team showed the sort of spirit that is needed to put distance between themselves and the relegation zone. They are still however still chasing their first home win this season so further improvement needed.

Saturday 25th October - Liverpool 2: Manchester United 0

Today's 2:0 result must have boosted the Anfield faithful, not least Rafa Benitez. Claiming a Manchester United scalp not only ended Liverpool's run of 4 straight defeats, but should also help alleviate the pressure on Rafa, who has been coming under fire for creating a team which may believe relies far too heavily on Torres and Gerrard. It was however Torres who beat an unconvincing Ferdinand to score the first goal in the 65th minute. Torres was then substituted for David Ngog, who in stoppage time calmly slotted the ball behind Van der Sar, who did well to keep Kuyt and Aurelio out earlier in the game.

The run of form of both clubs going into the match could not have been more different, with all the sensible money being put on Manchester United. And that is why football is such a great game and why the Premiership is such a fantastic league - form and stats mean nothing when two big clubs and bitter rivals clash. Liverpool vs Man U is always fascinating and the 2 red cards handed to Vidic and Mascerano demonstrate how emotive the contest is. Today's fixture had an extra ingredient with the return of Michael Owen to Anfield in a Man U strip and Owen must have been bitterly disappointed not to silence the Anfield boos.

There was little to separate the two sides at half time but Torres' pace and brilliance in the second half meant that Liverpool deserved their win ... the question of course remains - can Liverpool do the job without Torres (and Gerrard).