Gunners move top after Hammers defeat

Mar 20 2010

Arsenal overcame the sending off of defender Thomas Vermaelen to battle back to the top of the Barclays Premier League with a 2-0 win over struggling West Ham.

Denilson fired the Gunners in front after only five minutes as Arsene Wenger's men looked to leapfrog Manchester United and Chelsea, who do not play until Sunday.

However, Vermaelen was deemed to have been the last man when he pulled down Guillermo Franco, and was shown a straight red card, but Manuel Almunia saved Alessandro Diamanti's penalty and captain Cesc Fabregas made it 2-0 with nine minutes left from the same spot following a handball by Matthew Upson.