West Ham United may not have had the best of seasons but they have reached a milestone Arsenal would be proud of.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic
The Hammers have struggled for form and consistency in what has been a torrid second season under Slaven Bilic.
Knocked out of the Europa League, FA Cup and EFL Cup in embarrassing fashion, West Ham have looked a shadow of the side which finished just four points off the Champions League places last term.
Indeed there have been worrying spells when relegation looked a distinct possibility.
Any lingering fears over their Premier League safety were extinguished on Friday night, though, when Manuel Lanzini handed Slaven Bilic’s side a 1-0 win over fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur, effectively ending their title ambitions at the same time.
While that would have made Arsenal fans happy, a telling statistic after the game would have also made the Gunners teams of yesteryear happy too.
Arsenal fans have been singing “One-Nil to the Arsenal” since George Graham made the scoreline popular in the latter part of his tenure as Gunners boss.
George Graham’s trademark was the 1-0 win with Arsenal
The North London club’s supporters have sung it ever since, mostly ironically for a few years, but also with a sense of historical pride.
Well now West Ham can lay claim to the terrace ditty after recording their seventh 1-0 win of the season in the game against Spurs, a Premier League high.
Bilic and former Hammers manager Sam Allardyce
While Bilic has brought a more expansive and attractive brand of football to the club following Sam Allardyce’s departure, it is actually a stat that would make the Crystal Palace boss proud.
Maybe this is the new West Ham way?
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