Gunners dig deep to avoid a Hammering
West Ham 1
Arsenal 2
ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger admits he wants to strengthen his squad this month after seeing the Gunners given a scare before reaching the FA Cup fourth round.
Wales starlet Aaron Ramsey and Croatia striker Eduardo struck within five second-half minutes to save Wenger’s men, who looked to be heading out of the competition to Alessandro Diamanti’s first-half goal.
The comeback booked Arsenal a tricky trip to more top-flight opposition in Stoke, and kept alive their challenge for three major trophies.
That quest may be undermined unless Wenger bolsters his injury-hit squad, however, and the Frenchman insists he does not yet know how the January transfer window will pan out.
“I have the money, I have the desire but I do not have the player,” he said. “It depends how the big guns – Manchester City, Chelsea – move. If they buy from English clubs the market will be busy. If they don’t I think the market will be very quiet because there is not a lot of money around.”
West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola, by contrast, does not expect to have funds available amid continued uncertainty over the club’s ownership. “January is going to be quiet,” he said. “The big present for me would be if this team stays together and I get all the injured players back.”
Diamanti fired the Hammers in front just before the interval when he beat the offside trap. The introduction of Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby gave the Gunners extra impetus and Ramsey drove home the equaliser after the ball broke to him in the box. Eduardo headed a fine winner from Carlos Vela’s cross on 83 minutes.