West Ham United striker Carlton Cole put his side's battling draw against Arsenal down to nothing more than hard work. The Gunners had looked in complete control at Upton Park following first-half strikes from Robin van Persie and William Gallas.

However, Cole pulled a goal back after 74 minutes before substitute Alessandro Diamanti netted a late penalty to earn the Hammers a share of the points. It was an impressive comeback by the home side and Cole believes they deserved the draw.

"It (the result) was pure graft," he said. "That's what happens when you work hard for each other.

"The team responded well at half-time and came out all guns firing. We've been in this position before. We dominated in the first 15 minutes and were disappointed to go a goal down," said Cole.

"But we kept our heads, regrouped and managed to put in a performance like that. We deserved it."

We kept our heads, regrouped and managed to put in a performance like that. We deserved it.
West Ham United striker Carlton Cole

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger felt that fortune was not with his side after they threw away a commanding lead.

"It's disappointing," he said. " We had a good game today, but I believe we were a bit unlucky with some of the decisions.

"West Ham fought for their life and made it very difficult for us," said Wenger. "Overall we played a good game, but we couldn't get that third goal to finish it off even though we had plenty of opportunities."