FA Premiership/West Ham 1 Arsenal 0: West Ham were lifted out of the bottom three as Marlon Harewood gave them a second successive victory in a match which also produced their first clean sheet of the season. But there were so many other incidents in the game that at times the football seemed almost incidental.
Alan Pardew had seen the match as an opportunity for reconciliation after the "sensationalised" exchange of words between him and his Arsenal counterpart this year which led to Arsene Wenger hinting he regarded the West Ham manager's opinions of his club as "racist", but there was no sign of peace.
Instead there were numerous exchanges between the players as Arsenal reacted aggressively to this damaging result, and a coin thrown from the stand hit Robin van Persie on the head, but otherwise the main topic of discussion was Pardew's tactical success in dealing with Arsenal's runners.
Nigel Reo-Coker was charged with tracking Tomas Rosicky and, when the Czech shrugged off his marker by pushing into the space behind Thierry Henry, the West Ham midfielder turned his attentions to Cesc Fabregas. It meant Arsenal's two chief instigators were largely fettered and the customary fluidity of their counter-attacks was absent.
"I had a game plan," said Pardew. "Sometimes you set up a format and a contingency plan and it goes completely astray. But today it worked for us. Nigel had a brief to ensure Cesc Fabregas didn't play his part and Bobby Zamora worked so hard for us today. It was a big platform so Teddy [ Sheringham] and Marlon could come on and grab the headlines."
Arsenal's profligacy in front of goal cost them against CSKA Moscow in midweek; here they drew only two meaningful saves from Robert Green, the first van Persie's first-half effort which was athletically tipped wide, the second a 25-yard shot from Henry.
Arsenal might easily have fallen behind as Yossi Benayoun played a corner short to Matt Etherington, whose cross-shot flashed just wide. Then Zamora headed marginally wide. When Wenger sent on Emmanuel Adebayor to chase the game with a 4-4-2 formation, Pardew responded immediately with a similar switch. His introduction of Harewood and Sheringham also drew instant dividends.
Sheringham did not put a single pass astray and Harewood, within two minutes of coming on to the pitch, drew a solid, courageous save from Jens Lehmann. Offensively, Pardew's principal tactic had demanded his midfielders thread balls into the channels for Etherington, Lee Bowyer or Reo-Coker to chase. Seldom did they outrun Kolo Toure or William Gallas but Pardew persisted with the ploy, and he was ultimately rewarded.
The game was stretched in the closing minutes as Etherington was sent down the wing. Mathieu Flamini's sliding challenge dispossessed him but the Englishman regained the ball with what might have been deemed a foul. Escaping the Frenchman's attentions, he swept in the cross which Harewood met with a powerful shot from six yards. Cue mayhem, with Harewood removing his shirt - the least of the infractions, it led to a booking.
The release was shared by the West Ham crowd, many of whom had been enraged by the antics of van Persie. Operating in the first half on the left wing rather than in his more usual role of support striker, he was fighting a running battle with the Hammers' right-back Jonathan Spector, who was booked after a challenge on him.
The home fans saw it as simulation and a 2p piece was thrown and struck him as he went to take a throw-in; he fell to the floor clutching his head, further enraging the crowd.
Van Persie was subsequently cautioned for the second of two petulant clashes with Spector, causing Wenger to withdraw him in the second half.
Such was the temper in which the match was played even the mild-mannered Gael Clichy might have been aiming his lowered forehead at Spector as they contested a header. A few minutes later the Arsenal full back was treated for a bloodied nose after a challenge with Zamora as their seven-match unbeaten run came to an abrupt end.
