Arsenal keep pace after denting Hammers

An unfortunate own goal by West Ham defender Julien Faubert and a late clincher from Emmanuel Adebayor handed Arsenal a 2-0 win at Upton Park here Sunday.

The Frenchman turned an Adebayor shot past his own goalkeeper after his side had looked set for a deserved point, with the substitute netting a second in stoppage time, which also saw Carlton Cole sent off for the home side.

Arsenal remained fourth in the Premier League but are now one point behind second-placed Chelsea, after their London rivals' 1-0 loss to Liverpool earlier in the day.

With perhaps an eye on this coming Wednesday's derby with Tottenham, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made three changes from the side that had beaten Fenerbahce 5-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

William Gallas, the captain, returned at the back with Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner restored as an attacking partnership.

That meant Adebayor and Abou Diaby, who had both scored in Istanbul, dropping to the bench and Denilson missing out altogether.

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola made four changes after his side had lost 1-0 away to Hull the previous weekend.

James Collins played for the first time following injury, Lee Bowyer made his first Premier League appearance of the campaign and Hayden Mullins started for the first time in the league as Zola also opted to bring back fellow Italian David di Michele up front.

Theo Walcott tested home goalkeeper Robert Green with an angled drive after just 40 seconds but an error by Mikael Silvestre almost allowed Bowyer to go clear at the other end.

The France defender missed his kick completely but Bowyer was unable to control the ball, allowing Silvestre to make amends and clear.

Another error, this time by van Persie, allowed Bowyer to tee up di Michele, whose rising shot from outside the box was spectacularly tipped over by Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.

Bendtner fired across goal and wide after Arsenal regained their composure and Walcott came close to opening the scoring in the 20th minute after using his pace to leave challengers trailing.

Although his shot from the right of the box had the power to beat Green it hit the top of the bar not the net.

It was soon Almunia's turn at the other end however as Bellamy out-paced Gael Clichy chasing Scott Parker's through ball.

The Wales international must have thought he would score until Almunia stuck out a leg to deflect his shot over.

Arsenal's reply was a shot from Bendtner that Green had to tip round his far post before Scott Parker was booked shortly before the break.

Wenger sent on Diaby and Adebayor for Walcott and Samir Nasri with just over 20 minutes left and Adebayor immediately headed narrowly wide from a corner.

Robin van Persie then launched a fierce drive through a crowd of players but Green reacted superbly to parry once again.

The Dutchman tried again, this time from a free-kick from well outside the box, and this time he saw his shot beat Green but smack back into play off the goalkeeper's right-hand post.

A goal was coming though and Faubert scored it for Arsenal, diverting Adebayor's shot past his own goalkeeper in a panic in the 75th minute, a fate Green did not deserve.

Adebayor made sure of the points by rounding Green after Bendtner had found him with a long ball and West Ham's unhappiness was compounded when Cole was shown a straight red card for a lunge on Alexandre Song.