West Ham Utd 1 Arsenal 1 (Arsenal win 4-3 pens)

  • by Matthew O'Greel
  • Tuesday, 17th March 1998

The Hammers suffered the cruellest of defeats at the Boleyn tonight, going out of the F.A Cup in a penalty shootout at the hands of North London rivals Arsenal.

A fantastic cup match was brought to a heartbreaking conclusion when Samassi Abou failed to score from the spot, sending Arsenal through to the semi-finals and a clash with First Division Wolves.

It was one of those special nights at Upton Park, under the floodlights with expectations high. West Ham were able to name an almost full first XI, with the exceptions of Andy Impey, who failed a late fitness test, and cup-tied Trevor Sinclair. Arsenal were without their influential midfielder Ray Parlour (a self-confessed West Ham fanatic).

West Ham began the game as expected, pushing Arsenal deep inside their own half. But the gunners were able to withstand the early pressure, and soon began to take control of the game. After 33 minutes, with the Hammers on the backfoot, the whole game changed.

Dennis Bergkamp tussled with Steve Lomas as the pair chased for a 50/50 ball. With Lomas apparently beaten, Bergkamp swung a vicious elbow straight into the Hammers captain's face, right in front of referee Mike (Homer) Reed. Reed made no hesitation in producing the red card, Arsenal were down to ten men.

The Hammers, sensing this huge opportunity, took hold of the reins once again, but still couldn't unlock the Arsenal defence, which was superbly marshalled by Martin Keown and Tony Adams. Then, right on the stroke of half time, and completely against the run of play, Arsenal broke away. Patrick Viera took hold of the ball on the edge of the Hammers 'D', and touched a pass to Nicolas Anelka. The 18-year-old Frenchman took one touch then sent a scorcher past the helpless Bernard Lama into the bottom corner of the Hammers net. Reduced to 10 men, the Gunners had taken the lead.

The half-time whistle soon followed, much to the obvious disappointment of the Hammers contingent both on and off the field. The crowd were soon lifted after the break as the Hammers once again began to take control. Arsenal had set out their stall, they were sitting everybody in their own half of the field. It was up to the Hammers to break them down, which looked despairingly unlikely for most of the half.

Until 83 minutes had passed. John Moncur, who replaced Ian Pearce at half-time, won the ball deep in our own half. He strode to the half-way line, then sent the ball out on the left-hand side to John Hartson. Hartson, who had been invisible until this point, went on a mazy run deep into the Arsenal box. Martin Keown didn't know where he was; Hartson twisted and turned, then struck a low shot into the bottom corner, beating the outstanding Alex Manninger at his near post. Upton Park exploded like it hasn't for years; John Hartson jumped into the crown and we all went wild. 1-1, six minutes left.

So came the end of 90 minutes. The teams turned around, and the game continued much as it had for the last 60 minutes or so. Stan Lazarides ran Lee Dixon ragged down the left hand side, but for all his hard work and enterprise the Hammers still couldn't break down the dogged resistance of the Arsenal back-line. Johnny Hartson hit the bar from a cross/shot; Frank Lampard and sub Lee Hodges produced two more tremendous saves from Manninger, but it was all in vain. The final (final) whistle went, we were going to decide this tremendous tie on the lottery that is penalties.

Michael Hughes (for Arsenal) and David Unsworth (for the Hammers) both despatched their penalties with consumate ease. Not so for Christopher Wreh, his shot flew wide to the delight of the majority of the Upton Park crowd. John Hartson stepped up with the opportunity to put us in front - and hit the post. Silence erupted around the ground.

Boa Morte followed, and scored, then to the relief of the home fans Frank Lampard did the same. Remi Garde blasted wide, 2-2, West Ham with 2 penalties to go. Eyal Berkovic had the chance to put us within one kick from the semi, but his weak shot was saved by Manninger. Patrick Viera scored, Steve Lomas, in almost deathly silence made it 3-3. We were down to sudden death.

Tony Adams was the first to the spot. His shot must have been the weakest penalty of the night, but agonisingly just evaded the outstretched toe of Bernard Lama to make it 4-3. Who was next for the Hammers ?

'Aboooou, Aboooou' went up around the ground. Samassi Abou walked to the spot, placed the ball on the ground, and walked back to the edge of the box. He had to score, otherwise we were out. He struck the ball well enough, low to the right of Manninger. But too far. The ball hit the post, rebounded out, and Arsenal were through to the semi-finals. For a minute Italia '90 and Euro '96 came flooding back into the mind, but somehow this was worse. In the cruellest fashion, West Ham were out of the F.A Cup.

Harry Redknapp spoke for all of us after the game when he said "the lads could have done no more, they were terrific. Arsenal still had their back four and middle line after the sending-off, and made it very hard for us to break them down".

So, the perfect Cup tie, until the very end. We can be proud of the boys tonight, every one of them gave 100% to the cause. It's hard to see some light at the end of the tunnel at the moment, but rest assured, this West Ham team will be back for many more nights like this (and better) in years to come.

Hammers (team / ratings)

Bernard Lama (9) Did what he had to do, had no chance with the goal.
Ian Pearce (9) subbed at half-time for tactical reasons, he rarely put a foot wrong.
Steve Potts (9) Continued his fantastic form of late.
David Unsworth (10) Outstanding, a superb performace from Rhino.
Rio Ferdinand (10) Must have had watching England coach Glenn Hoddle drooling, so assured for a 19 year-old.
Stan Lazarides (10) My man of the match, ran the Arsenal defence ragged.
Steve Lomas (10) Recovered well from a smack in the mush, chased everything.
Frank Lampard (9) Gutsy performance, might have scored twice on another day.
Eyal Berkovic (9) Worked tirelessly but rarely found space in which to operate.
John Hartson (0 for the first 80 minutes, 10 for the rest) Scored one of the goals of the season, took time to get into the game but was just like his old self at the end.
Abou (9) Nice flicks and touches, proved an effective partner to Hartson. But he'll always be remembered for the penalty ...

John Moncur (Pearce, 10) Should have started with him, a real powerhouse in midfield.
Lee Hodges (Potts, 10) Was this the same fella I've been watching lately ? Brilliant.

Referee: Mike Reed (5).

Goals: Anelka (33), Hartson (83).

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