ARSENAL 3 WEST HAM 1
Dennis Bergkamp was once again at the centre of controversy as his 'slap' on Lee Bowyer overshadowed another impressive Arsenal win that took them five points clear at the top of the table.
The Dutch striker was caught on camera extending his left elbow out to fend off the attentions of Bowyer and, for once, Arsene Wenger admitted that he saw the incident, but was at pains to point out the mitigating circumstances in defence of Bergkamp.
He said: "It looked like Dennis protected the ball with his elbows and let Bowyer run into him. Yes, he did catch him but did he want to catch him? I don't think so. Why, if he has the ball, would he want to elbow Lee Bowyer?" (Answers please on a postcard).
The Arsenal striker admitted: "Yes, there was contact with him but I never knew he was there. I feel sorry for West Ham and Lee Bowyer but there was nothing else I could have done in that situation."
Bergkamp was lucky that match referee Mike Dean did not see the incident, as the striker was already on a yellow card, but the Football Association are likely to be less myopic, once video footage is viewed, and the Dutchman, who was sent-off at Upton Park, in 1998 for elbowing Steve Lomas, could face a lengthy suspension as he was fined and warned as to his future conduct, last month, after stamping on Blackburn's Nils-Eric Johansson.
Ironically, the first controversial incident at Highbury was the dismissal of Steve Lomas, for pulling back Robert Pires, after less than a quarter of an hour. Thierry Henry drove home the resultant penalty to commence the perfect hat-trick. Amazingly ten-man West Ham equalised, just before the break, through Jermain Defoe but Arsenal restored their lead, after Bergkamp's elbow on Bowyer, when the Dutchman crossed for Henry to score with his first Premiership header, after nearly 10,000 minutes of trying.
And, right on cue, Henry completed a sublime hat-trick with a left foot shot that he slid under David James, four minutes from time, to restore the Gunners' five-point lead at the head of the Premiership table. The Frenchman, who hit his 100th Arsenal goal just last weekend, has now scored in each of the last five league games, netted eight in that period and, appropriately, as his team tops the table, he now sits proudly on top of the Premiership scoring charts with 17 goals.
It's a sign of the growing maturity of the 25-year-old, who, now, is widely regarded as the best striker in the world that, pleased though he was with his hat-trick and his first Premiership header, he still found time to sympathise with West Ham, saying: "They played very well and I just cannot understand why a team that good is at the bottom of the table. I think they showed enough to be able to get out of that position."
Needless to say, West Ham boss Glenn Roeder was none-too-pleased with the display of referee Dean, and said of the Lomas-Pires incident: "Pires didn't need any excuse to fall over for the penalty - he was barely touched. I've only seen it once but he was down as soon as he could get down. He could quite easily have stayed up, and you would have respected him because a player with such quality would have finished anyway.
"And then there's the double whammy of our player being sent off. It does concern me that players are going down without too much encouragement. Any slight touch and they fall down."
Of the Bergkamp-Bowyer clash with preceded the second goal, Roeder added: "Bergkamp has clearly put his hand in Lee's face and pushed him over. He knows he's been fouled and the majority of people in the ground saw it - but the most important person (Dean) didn't and we've been punished. On a more fortuitous day we could have got a point."
FULHAM 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 0
Fulham gained only their third win in 15 Premiership matches with a Sean Davis' goal, just before half time. but The Cottagers' biggest problem lies off the field with the stark announcement of their benefactor, Mohamed Al Fayed, that enough is enough, after spending £100 million on the club.
The multi-millionaire club owner was responding to pre-match demonstrations against the club's temporary move from Craven Cottage. The Harrods owner did not mince his words when he said: "There seems to be a general perception that I will bankroll Fulham with limitless funds. I will not. I may have deep pockets but I am not a fool with my money and to continue pouring funds into Fulham, for very little financial return, is nothing short of folly. It makes no business sense at all."
On the park, Davis added to his growing reputation under the watchful gaze of Sven-Goran Eriksson with a 38th minute shot which served around Mark Schwarzer for the points clincher.
If the victory, which took Fulham six points clear of third bottom Sunderland, eased relegation worries for the London side, it did exactly the opposite for Boro, whose woeful away from continues to feed the record books. Not only have Boro lost their last eight away games but they have failed to score an away goal for an amazing 12 and a half hours in picking up just four points away from the Riverside.
Their manager Steve McClaren was quite succinct in his criticism, saying: "I can't defend the players or the performance. It was poor and just not good enough. We need to bring in a couple of players to give us an injection."
