Premier League
| West Ham United 2 | |
|---|---|
| Arsenal 1 |
- guardian.co.uk, Sunday October 3 1999 21.54 BST
A cursory analysis of this game will paint two-goal Paolo Di Canio as the hero of West Ham's victory while Arsenal's Patrick Vieira, sent off and facing allegations of spitting, will be cast as the bad guy. If only life were that simple.
Di Canio, not for the first time, was also a villain. And let us not forget either the man in black. Mike Reid fell for two apparent dives by Di Canio which resulted in Vieira receiving the fourth red card of his Arsenal career. He also missed a handball in the build-up to West Ham's first goal, yet managed to spot enough other offences to see Marc Vivien Foe sent off in injury-time for a second caution and 10 yellow cards issued in total.
As for Vieira, having picked up his fifth yellow card and first sending-off this season, he now faces the possibility of further punishment after allegedly spitting in the face of West Ham's Neil Ruddock following his red card.
"He is the lowest of the low," Ruddock said of the Frenchman afterwards. "I like him as a player but not as a man. He deserves a long ban." One can only hope the fourth official or video replay also picked up the pious Ruddock's body-charge into the angry Frenchman seconds earlier.
The after-match verbal confrontation continued to reflect the bad feeling of the game itself when the Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said of West Ham's Italian striker: "It was cheating by Di Canio. He had a great game but I was very frustrated by his behaviour. He dived for Vieira's first yellow card and again for the sending-off, so Patrick was very upset."
And to think that the game was billed as the first Premiership meeting between two old friends, Davor Suker and Igor Stimac. However, the more minutes that ticked by, the greater the animosity grew between two teams at different points on the aspirational scale.
So what about the football? Arsenal began in control of the game, with Suker and Dennis Bergkamp going close. West Ham were restricted to long shots until the half-hour, when they went ahead.
A great run by Di Canio past about five challenges ended with the ball squirting out to Trevor Sinclair on the right of the area. As David Seaman, back from injury, blocked the threat, the ball ballooned up and Sinclair appeared to control it with his outstretched hand. The ensuing cross was half-hit by Paulo Wanchope and Di Canio stabbed it home.
Arsenal threw away their early caution and went for the equaliser, playing three forwards for much of the second half. Three times Suker went close and so did Bergkamp before having a "goal" disallowed for a debatable offside.
West Ham were working hard to minimise the threat posed by the north Londoners while waiting for the chance to attack on the break. Sinclair shot wastefully wide on one such occasion, then Silvinho's saving tackle denied Di Canio.
But on 72 minutes the Italian produced another piece of magic to extend West Ham's lead, lifting the ball past Martin Keown with his left foot and firing majestically past Seaman with his right.
Four minutes later Arsenal pulled a goal back when Steve Lomas's marshmallow defensive header fell straight to Suker, who this time found the net. But, although the visitors piled forward in ever greater numbers, it was West Ham who went closest to scoring again, Di Canio outwitting Tony Adams and firing in a shot which Seaman turned brilliantly over the bar.
