Denilson fired the home side into an early lead before Thomas Vermaelen saw red for a professional foul shortly before break - although Manuel Almunia came to his rescue with a fine save from the resultant penalty. Gianfranco Zola's men probed for an equaliser in the second period but Arsenal, who leapfrogged Chelsea and Manchester United in the table, wrapped up the points with a late Fabregas penalty. Denilson fired the Gunners in front after only five minutes, playing a neat one-two with Nicklas Bendtner on the edge of the box before expertly finding the bottom corner of Robert Green's goal. The Hammers almost produced an immediate response when Alessandro Diamanti's curling free-kick flew just over the bar, while Junior Stanislas tested Almunia from distance. The home side were reduced to 10 men, however, on the stroke of half-time when Vermaelen tangled with Guillermo Franco in the area. The Gunners defender was last man and saw red but Alessandro Diamanti's subsequent penalty was brilliantly saved by Almunia. Andrei Arshavin headed over at the start of the second period, while Sol Campbell was also denied by Green as Arsene Wenger's men looked for the cushion of a second goal. Hammers substitute Benni McCarthy powered a header over the bar with 14 minutes to go and Carlton Cole was desperately unlucky to see a 25-yarder clip the outside of the post. But the points were wrapped up with seven minutes to go when Matthew Upson handled in the area and Fabregas stepped up to notch his 18th goal of the season to send the Gunners top.
