A strange night at the Grove on Wednesday, a evenly contested first half, a spectacular opening to the second which decided the game, and a training style end following a long stoppage for a head injury.
It was eventful off the pitch too, at least in the section of the Upper tier of the Clock End where I was sitting where a boisterous young man a few seats along my row decided that his vocal support was not enough when West Ham took the lead. Indeed Arsenal's inability to only go into the break on level terms thanks to Lukas Podolski's equaliser hit like a kicking horse, was supposedly down to everyone's failure to match his volume and veracity of support. With no one rising to his bait, allegations that we were all plastic fans and responsible for Arsenal's demise in recent seasons soon turned into more personal abuse which crossed the line and he so he found himself put in his place by all around him.
The cameradarie engendered by the feeling that none of us were like him was boosted when he failed to return for the second half and thus missed the enthralling ten minute spell when Arsenal scored four times through Olivier Giroud (with two), Santi Cazorla and Theo Walcott to make it game over.
