[Insert Song pun here]

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
30 Oct	3:00 PM	P	West Ham United (H)	1	0	Win

It would be a lie to say Arsenal were on-Song today, when they were in fact largely playing out of tune and out of time with each other, but thankfully it ain't over 'til the fat lady Songs and we hit the key note at the right moment and so on and so forth...

Does it matter that we only beat the worst team in the league 1-0 with a late goal? Should we be concerned that Arsenal couldn't play three good games in a row? It reminds me too much of last season for my liking. Whilst you obviously need to be able to scrap out results when not playing well, doing it too often can become tiring. Last season we didn't play well and relied purely on late, scrappy wins until we eventually ran out of energy.

I guess I find it sad that the players couldn't take heart from their recent displays. Against Man City they looked like they'd conquered an inferiority complex that had held them back in a lot of the recent big games, so why should it come creeping back against such a poor West Ham side?

Maybe it's not under-confidence, it could indeed be the opposite and the players thought showing up today would be enough. I don't know which is worse, but both are common symptoms of Wenger's teams.

I'll resist the urge to complain too much as it is still a valuable three points, and performance-wise there's always hope it's just a blip. Maybe the players are saving themselves for the Carling Cup that we have all grown to love so fondly? With the news of our fifth round draw against Wigan resounding round the players' heads, I can understand it would be difficult to concentrate on the small matter of the league.

Elsewhere, while it's always nice to see Spurs lose, it is a shame that the dispicable Man Utd have once again got their way with a little help from their referees.

Mark Clattenburg had a good game last weekend when he officiated our match against City, but the fact that that was a marked improvement from his efforts in the previous meeting says a lot - the guy can't hack it and he needs a break from the game as much as we need a break from him.

For those of you who haven't seen the incident - Clattenburg somehow managed to make THREE bad decisions all in one go. Nani had his shirt pulled in the box, and although he went down easily I'd say I've seen them given. The ref didn't give it, but surely if he decides it wasn't a penalty then it must have been a dive by Nani? So book him for falling over and complaining! Then he missed the small matter of the handball, which the United winger took to a whole new level by grabbing the ball to his chest with both arms.

From then on, it was Gomes' fault, assuming he had been given a freekick, which obviously he should have been, but sadly the goal itself was perfectly legal thanks to the incompetence of the referee, and Nani slotted the ball home while the Spurs goalkeeper was preparing his run-up.

How many times in recent years has this fixture in particular fallen foul to terrible favouritism from refs to Man Utd? The commentators kindly listed a few: Pedro Mendes' stoppage time goal that clearly crossed the line; a handball by Vidic on the line to prevent a goal; a poor penalty decision in United's favour last season to kick-start their 5-2 comeback.

All that and many more decisions and added minutes that Ferguson and his players bully their way into getting basically every week! Take these away and you could cut their recent trophy count in half.

It's sad, particularly, because they are so clearly struggling so far this season on and off the field, and could easily slip down if not for these continued handouts. I saw plenty there today to suggest they won't be much of a threat this year, not that we'll notice; Spurs once again put on an admirable display at Old Trafford but came away empty handed, and that's all that matters now.

It is funny, though, to see Dimitar Berbatov 'revert to type' as Jon Champion said today, despite all the early-season promise. Let's hope Arsenal haven't reverted to type in way of making life unnecessarily difficult for themselves.

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