ARSENAL MATCH REVIEWS 2002-2003
West Ham 2 Arsenal 2
Arsenal's record winning run was brought to a halt at Upton Park, but it could have been worse as it took a Sylvain Wiltord goal two minutes from time to rescue a point.
The Gunners had won 14 on the trot before today, and needed just one more victory to set an all-time record in English football.
But they were largely second-best in an enthralling London derby, and found themselves staring defeat in the face after goals from Joe Cole and Fredi Kanoute either side of the break put the Hammers 2-0 ahead.
Highbury is brimming over with champion spirit these days, though, and after a Thierry Henry cracker had sparked them to life, Arsenal survived a missed Kanoute penalty before Wiltord's late intervention.
The Frenchman strode on to a return pass from substitute Kanu to plant a firm side-footer past David James from around the penalty spot, and the Boleyn was left stunned as a first success of the season was snatched away.
Until then it had been in fine voice, and rightly so as the Hammers produced a performance full of verve and far removed from the anaemic display which earned them a thumping at St James' Park on Monday night.
Glenn Roeder's men may get a nosebleed outside E13, but on home territory their big players are a different proposition - none more so than Kanoute.
The Frenchman cried off the long trip north to Newcastle, but he was back today, giving Martin Keown the kind of runaround that made the Arsenal veteran look his age.
It was Keown who was left floundering as Kanoute nipped in at the near post to steer Jermain Defoe's delicious right-wing cross past David Seaman and put his side in a seemingly unassailable position.
The England number one, stubbornly clinging to his jersey at club and international level, had already been left exposed by Joe Cole's bouncing left-foot curler from Kanoute's pass a minute before the interval.
But if he was at all to blame for Cole's strike, he made amends in the 74th minute, guessing right to keep out Kanoute's terribly weak spot-kick after Joe Cole had fallen theatrically under challenge from his much-maligned namesake Ashley.
In between times Henry staked an early claim for goal-of-the-season with a lithe turn and scorching half-volley on the edge of the box, and Kanoute was denied by Seaman's fingertip and the width of the post.
The inside of the frame also denied Trevor Sinclair as the Hammers carved out the bulk of the chances, but Arsenal almost plundered a last-gasp win as James reacted brilliantly to thwart Kolo Toure after an error from debutant Gary Breen.
Teams:
West Ham United: David James, Sebastian Schemmel, Tomas Repka, Christian Dailly, Nigel Winterburn (Gary Breen 69), Michael Carrick, Joe Cole (John Moncur 84), Edouard Cisse, Trevor Sinclair, Jermain Defoe, Frederic Kanoute
Subs not used: Raimond Van Der Gouw, Ian Pearce, Titi Camara
Booked: Tomas Repka 63, John Moncur 87
Arsenal: David Seaman, Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Martin Keown, Bisan Lauren (Kolo Toure 84), Patrick Vieira, Ray Parlour (Jermaine Pennant 62), Edu, Sylvain Wiltord, Dennis Bergkamp (Nwankwo Kanu 45), Thierry Henry
Subs not used: Stuart Taylor, Oleg Luzhny
Booked: Ashley Cole 53, Martin Keown 68, Patrick Vieira 75, Edu 42, Dennis Bergkamp 18
Referee: Neale Barry
Attendance: 35,048