An unfortunate own goal by West Ham defender Julien Faubert and a late clincher from Emmanuel Adebayor handed Arsenal a 2-0 win at Upton Parkon Sunday.
The Frenchman turned an Adebayor shot past his own goalkeeper after his side had looked set for a deserved point, with the substitute netting a second in stoppage time, which also saw Carlton Cole sent off for the home side.
Arsenal remained fourth in the Premier League but are now one point behind second-placed Chelsea, after their London rivals' 1-0 loss to Liverpool earlier in the day.
With perhaps an eye on this coming Wednesday's derby with Tottenham, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made three changes from the side that had beaten Fenerbahce 5-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
William Gallas, the captain, returned at the back with Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner restored as an attacking partnership.
Arsenal's reply was a shot from Bendtner that Green had to tip round his far post before Scott Parker was booked shortly before the break.
Wenger sent on Diaby and Adebayor for Walcott and Samir Nasri with just over 20 minutes left and Adebayor immediately headed narrowly wide from a corner.
Robin van Persie then launched a fierce drive through a crowd of players but Green reacted superbly to parry once again.
The Dutchman tried again, this time from a free-kick from well outside the box, and this time he saw his shot beat Green but smack back into play off the goalkeeper's right-hand post.
A goal was coming though and Faubert scored it for Arsenal, diverting Adebayor's shot past his own goalkeeper in a panic in the 75th minute, a fate Green did not deserve.
Adebayor made sure of the points by rounding Green after Bendtner had found him with a long ball and West Ham's unhappiness was compounded when Cole was shown a straight red card for a lunge on Alexandre Song.
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