It was one of those games which could have gone either way and I can see both Carroll and Nolan crying into their Saturday evening pints lamenting over the missed chances of the Hammers against Arsenal.

I’ve said it time and time again and if we don’t start burying the chances we have against top clubs, we will end up being buried by them as yesterday evening clearly showed. The gunners had a lot of play, maybe too much in the first 20 minutes or so but West Ham were causing problems, too.

It was up to Mo Diame to strike first blood and he did it in style just after 21 minutes of play. It was George McCartney who found Diame who then went past Ramsey with ease, but instead of crossing the ball as everyone expected, he struck a beauty that curled past Arsenal’s Vito Mannone and found the top of the net – great goal.

Hammers keeper Jussi was kept on his toes too, with saves from both Santi Cazorla and Giroud. Arsenal did look a classy side and their passing ability along with pace was superb. West ham caused problems for Arsenal once we found their box as they were no match for the arial ability of Mr Andy Carroll!

Arsenal were busily stroking the ball around the park and West Ham weren’t seeing to much of it and Arsenal’s first goal came just before half time on 41 minutes courtesy of Olivier Giroud. It was the tall guy’s first goal in the Premier League and Arsenal looked like making good. It was Lukas Podolski who went down the left side and crossed the ball so Giroud could both slide and guide it into the net. Jaaskelainen could do nothing to stop that one.

Just before half time, Nolan received a ball from Carroll but screwed up big time and sent the ball wide. West Ham could have easily gone into half time 2-1 up. He’ll be sorry for that miss!

Second half gets under way and it’s much of the same until we hit 63 minutes. Walcott comes on for Gervinho and Vaz Té goes off for Taylor.

67 minutes sees Carroll with a chance. it’s not a sitter but his well earned header goes wide. he should be kicking himself for that one as the big strike holds his head in his hands.

72 minutes saw a penalty shout from Arsenal but it was adjudged to be just outside the box. Taylor clipped the back of Ramsey’s ankle and he went down like a sack of King Edwards. However the ref doesn’t reward the Gunners anything,  which is quite strange! Tomkins comes on for Guy Demel on 72 minutes.

Arsenal’s second goal came as they were still smarting from the penalty shout. Diame loses the ball and Arsenal are on it like a rash and shoot upfield. Giroud slots in a peach of a pass that finds Walcott who curls a lovely ball to the left of Jussi and into the bottom right of the net – we are 1-2 down and things look like they are going well for the Gunners.

Diame goes off for Carlton Cole on 82 minutes and I think we should have seen Cole come on for Andy Carroll instead, who clearly looked tired towards the end of the game. Maybe bringing on Cole 10 minutes earlier for Carroll could have swung things in the Iron’s favour.

Just a minute later saw Cazorla score a beauty on 83 minutes. The little Spaniard blasts a left footed shot past Jussi 25 yards out – great goal and it looked like Jaaskelainen was slightly unsighted speaking in his defence.

4 minutes of extra time were added and it wasn’t enough for West Ham to even snatch a cheeky goal back.

Maybe it was a reality check for the boys at Upton Park. They were outclassed by a decent Arsenal side who seemed to have found their feet after letting a few good players go. Their passing was Barcelona style and their pace was good. Little Cazorla, who refuses to be called the new Cesc by the way, ruled the midfield for Arsenal.

The Hammers could have had a few goals more but squandered their chances – Carroll and nolan being the culprits. Sorry lads, i have to tell it like it is – and it’s painful. We have to learn from this game and I’m sure that Allardyce has had his few words with the players.

We could say that this game was the baptism of fire for West Ham on their return to top flight football. Let’s pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off for the next game.