Beware Tottenham! West Ham were first team to win away at Emirates and we can do it again, says Mark Noble

Perfect chip: Bobby Zamora wins the game for West Ham at Arsenal in 20
AFP/Getty Images
Mark Noble26 April 2019

I’m really looking forward to facing Tottenham in their new home on Saturday. It looks a fantastic stadium and they’ve yet to concede a goal, let alone be beaten there. Hopefully, we can change that.

Twelve years ago, we went to the Emirates to play Arsenal, who were also unbeaten in their new place, but we managed it 1-0, with a goal from Bobby Zamora.

We could have been 6-0 down after 30 minutes but our goalkeeper, Rob Green, was Superman that day. I played — I was 19 — and I remember thinking after they had four one-on-ones and failed to score, “This could just be our day”.

Then Lucas Neill put a great through ball to Bobby, who chipped Jens Lehmann. Although Arsenal had 14 corners, somehow we held out to win the game.

The other thing I remember is that I made what I still feel is, to this day, one of my best-ever tackles. It was on Gilberto Silva, in front of our fans, and I still remember it as one of the great moments of my playing career.

We were in a perilous position at the time but we went there with a feeling of freedom and, although we were battered, the three points was all that mattered.

Saturday is a different game and different circumstances. I don’t believe Spurs, three days before a Champions League semi-final against Ajax, would have ideally picked a derby.

I don’t know what team Mauricio Pochettino will put out, but it’s only natural that those who will be involved against Ajax will not want to risk injury. That game is one of the biggest in their history and, no disrespect to Ajax, Spurs will surely fancy their chances to go through to the final.

Against Leicester on Saturday we again had a good goal ruled out for offside. You rely on officials to get things right but in our case over the last couple of weeks they haven’t and it has cost us points.

We deserve something to go our way, especially after the way we played against Manchester United and large parts of the game against Leicester.

I’m relishing the game tomorrow. It’s no coincidence that Spurs, with the facilities they have — the stadium and the training ground — are where they are.

We’re just hoping, though, that we can be the first team to score there. If we do that and don’t concede, we’ll be taking the points back to east London.

I enjoy playing Spurs. Over the years I’ve been involved in some great wins and some really bad defeats, but the atmosphere is always special.

New surround has made our home nearly pitch perfect

REUTERS

The new claret-and-blue pitch surround made a big difference and was even better than I thought it would be.

There is still more to do and the plan is to bring some seats closer to the pitch next season, but the new carpet gave all us players a new and much-improved perspective. Not that it played a huge part in me crossing for Michail Antonio to head home our first goal. I don’t find myself on the left wing too often and although my left foot isn’t that bad, I don’t kick with it that often because I broke my big toe eight years ago and I still get a lot of pain.

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