Arsenal grab point from Hammers

West Ham 2, Arsenal 2 (full-time)

Arsenal’s attempt to rewrite English football’s history books failed in a pulsating 2-2 draw with West Ham at a stunned Upton Park today.

The Gunners came back from 2-0 down, with Sylvain Wiltord equalising in the 88th minute.

Early on, David Seaman was saved by the woodwork when he thought Trevor Sinclair’s 20-yard thunderbolt was going wide - but the ball smacked the inside of his post.

Joe Cole’s brilliant 20-yard curler on the stroke of half-time gave the Hammers, who were thrashed 4-0 at Newcastle on Monday, a 1-0 lead.

And Freddie Kanoute put the home fans into dreamland with a second - a poked finish from a cross - in the 53rd minute.

But Thierry Henry halved the deficit with a stunning drive into the top corner 12 minutes later.

Kanoute then wasted the chance to restore West Ham’s two-goal advantage when his weak penalty was saved by David Seaman.

Ashley Cole - no stranger to controversy this week - was lucky to escape a red card when, after already being booked, he fouled Joe Cole for the spot-kick.

And with just two minutes left, Wiltord played a neat one-two with Kanu to level.

Before kick-off, players on both sides and the 35,048 fans packed into Upton Park stood for an immaculately-observed minute’s silence in memory of murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Thierry Henry uncharacteristically wasted the first chance of the game in the ninth minute.

He clipped the ball to Dennis Bergkamp - and the Dutchman’s return pass put the Frenchman through on goal. However, his angled 14-yard shot skidded just past the far post.

Henry got round the back of the Hammers defence for the second time when he turned and raced clear of Sebastien Schemmel and Christian Dailly.

He again aimed for the far post and this time David James stretched to make a comfortable save.

Play swiftly sung to the other end and West Ham went even closer to scoring - thanks to Seaman’s blunder.

The England number one thought Sinclair’s thumping 20-yard drive was going wide - but it smacked the inside of his post and rebounded across goal to safety.

Kanoute wasted the home side’s best shooting opportunity in the 32nd minute. He almost cleared the Centenary Stand behind Seaman’s goal as he absolutely skied a Repka pull-back.

Seaman did very well to block Kanoute’s awkward point-blank attempt from Edouard Cisse’s dinked delivery into the box two minutes later.

James made a wonderful block from Wiltord - but moments before the half-time whistle, Cole produced a sensational goal for the Hammers.

Kanoute drilled the ball across the 18-yard box and Cole raced in from the right wing to curl a brilliant first-time shot beyond Seaman and into the far corner.

After the break, Ashley Cole was booked for a wild lunge on Schemmel.

And the Arsenal left-back’s afternoon went from bad to worse in the 53rd minute as Defoe brilliantly kept the ball in on the right flank and beat him to cross to the near post.

Kanoute raced in front of Martin Keown and poked the ball past Seaman, giving the Hammers a 2-0 lead.

Upton Park was rocking now and Seaman had to make a brilliant fingertip save to deny Kanoute a second after Cole’s diagonal pass.

Kanoute was bubbling with confidence and also sent a sharp angled drive a foot wide of Seaman’s far post.

But Wenger’s men reduced the arrears to 2-1 with a fantastic goal by Henry in the 65th minute.

The French international ran into space on the edge of the Hammers box and connected with a superb rising drive which screamed into the top left corner of the home net.

Breen replaced Winterburn in the 69th minute to make his West Ham debut.

Kanoute wasted a dream chance to restore West Ham’s two-goal cushion when his weak 75th-minute penalty was saved by Seaman.

Ashley Cole brought down Joe Cole and was lucky to escape without a second yellow card and subsequent red.

But a spat between the Hammers midfielder and Lauren delayed Kanoute’s spot-kick and the Frenchman lost his bottle, with Seaman saving low to his right.

And Arsenal made Kanoute pay in the 88th minute. Wiltord played a tight one-two with Kanu inside the Hammers box and the Frenchman drove the ball past James from 14 yards to equalise at 2-2.

In stoppage time, James tipped Henry’s deflected free-kick over his crossbar and saved from Kolo Toure at point-blank range.