Jackpot

Arsenal hosted Montpellier last night in a bid to secure progression into the last 16. I watched the Gunners laboured in the first half and went back to bed (well, I had to get up for work). The Gunners improved after a forgettable first half and we won by goals thanks to Jack and Poldi, both from the increasingly indispensableGiroud assists. Jack scored his first goal after 2 years while Poldi scored an absolute screamer and the more I see it, the more I think it’s reminiscent of a certain Dutch skunk’s strike. You can watch it here or on Arsenal Player. Indeed, it’s a contender for goal of the season in Europe.

 Jack’s back alright

What a déjà vu the past few weeks have been. We started off the season pretty much like last season with haters saying we were in crisis yet again – after all, we did spend two successive summers selling our captains – and the first two goalless matches seemed to bear testimony to this. And then the defeats (but ahem, ManUre have had three defeats too and Chelshit two). It seemed that Chelshit would be breezing through the season what with summer acquisitions of Hazard and Oscar to add to Mata and indeed they were topping the league. Then suddenly they started having a crisis too, just like last season and before you could blink, ruthless Abramovich had sacked di Matteo and hours later appointed Benitez to the hot seat. Speaking further of déjà vu, we spanked a similar scoreline against the scums, mashing the Spuds and slaughtering the chickens. Déjà vu, eh?

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My handsome sweet pie nephew aced his exam! I had promised to take him on a trip and now we are really going, insyaAllah! My other nephew didn’t fare so well though. Yes, you can say it’s just Standard 6 exams but to me, so why can’t one even make the grades for this? And now there’s talk of abolishing major exams. The education system here has gone to the dogs but if exams are abolished, how do we know the standards of our students? How do we test their understanding of what’s taught? How do we gauge their learning? Sure, learning can be done in more fun effective way but I’m not sure abolishing exams is the way to go.

Schalke And Ciisss

After a disappointing weekend where the Gunners put a woeful, weak and pathetic display, we travelled to Germany to meet Schalke 04 (who beat us 2-0 at the Emirates - grrr). I didn’t wake up to watch – blame that on the end of BST.

Theo started and buried a goal as a Giroud attempt rebounded then the HFB himself headed in a beauty from a Poldi’s inch-perfect pass. Theo then failed to secure victory when his shot was saved.

Our Champions League hopes are not over, not by a long Schalke (chalk).



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In other news, Barack Obama has been re-elected as the President of the US.

So Near And Yet So Far

It was a tall order trying to overcome a four-goal deficit and while the Gunners played with their heart out, fatigue caught up in the end. Goals from Koscielny, man-of-the-match Rosický and the Captain in the first half were not enough and towards the end of the match, we were simply drained of energy.

Still, they went out in style and with pride intact. I’m so proud of our boys who played hard and gave their all. Credit to the home support too.

Ram Raid

Arsenal travelled to Marseille for the Champions League Group F clash. I was up for the second half. Found the match to be on the dull side and I was silently telling the team, ‘Come on Arsenal. A one-nil win will do.’ And when we were in the 91st minute, I said, ‘Come on Arsenal. One last attack.’ And that was what it was, literally the last kick of the match, worked by the three substitutes – Djourou, Gervinho and Ramsey. And that, ladies and gentlemen, that one minute of quality is what made the difference. The classy goal, made in the last 90 seconds of the match, more than made up for the earlier 90 minutes.

We face the Orc army next.

Seeing Red

Well, that was ‘fun’ wasn’t it. Actually, no, I didn’t find Barcelona all that entertaining or brilliant to watch. That is to say I don’t find any team whose football ideology is about completely denying the other team a say in the match at all entertaining. So when they win, it’s just expected. Sure it takes incredible skill but entertaining? Not to me. We managed to (somehow) contain them for the first 45 minutes (until Messi scored). They only had advantage of extra man after RvP left. Oh and help fr blinking referee of course. RvP should have contained his temper and avoided the first yellow but to be given the second was scandalously harsh. RvP: ‘In my opinion the ref killed the game. The sending off had a big influence. It was a total joke. How can I hear the whistle with 90,000 people jumping up? How to God can I hear? The referee has been a joke all evening.’

And apparently Wenger had spoken about the referee to the folks at UEFA who were equally shocked ‘as it killed a promising, fantastic match. Frankly it’s embarrassing for the game.’ Well, hardly shocking seeing Busacca is not universally accepted in his own country as SwissRamble shared. He was suspended a couple of years ago for giving the crowd the finger.

Downright professional, aren’t you? Can we show you our fingers too?

And boy, were we choked. And cor blimey, no red cards given for these! Not a card either to Alves for scissor-tackling Nasri. But a card was given to RvP for kicking the ball one bloody second after he was adjudged offside.

Nasri strangled. Photo thanks to Cristina
RvP strangled, from here

Reactions from Cesc taking blame for first goal, Jack (1) and (2), Nasri (1) and (2) and RvP about the dismissal.

Well, we win as a team and lose as a team (and got knocked out of Europe by an effing shitty referee as a team).

I Still Believe

Training. Living On A Prayer

I had a good feeling about the match yesterday. Yes, I was nervous but I was also confident. Strange considering the aggregate result last season was a 6-3 tennis score. Persuaded by this, I thought it’d end 2-1 in Arsenal’s favour too.

This is Cesc’s programme notes before the game:

‘Barcelona are the best in the world right now, but I think they are also an example of how to be patient. When I was there as a youngster not that long ago, they didn’t win anything for five years. My friends Xavi and Puyol didn’t win anything until they were 26. Nothing. Not even a cup. They always remind me to be patient, it will come. They say, ‘You are only 23 and you have the World Cup, FA Cup. European Championships, Champions League final. So many things. Until 26 we had nothing, we didn’t even know what it was to be in a final’. That’s what they tell me and it’s funny because now they have won everything in football. That shows you how football can change so, so quickly and that patience is the key to everything.’

Matchday programme. Source: KeithTheGooner

I was so excited my body clock woke me up before 3 am. Finally, I got up at 3.55 and turned on the TV. Shortly after, David Villa scored. Dang you.

Finally, Arsenal’s fight back with a dozen minutes to go was rewarded. Those last dozen minutes really encapsulated the defiant and determined side of Arsenal and their desire with goals from RvP and Arshavin completing Arsenal’s recovery. It was a bold move by Wenger when he took a gamble by replacing Song with the Russian meerkat. This win has given Arsenal a second leg to stand on and guess what? We did it with Wenger’s brilliance and without ethical compromise.

Teams walk out
Red and white at The Emirates
Cesc and mate - who is suspended for the next match. Moc moc! Jajajajaja!!!
Sublime goal from our Flying Dutchman

GIF of Wenger and RvP here.

With eight minutes to go, the Russian Meerkat made it 2-1 ;')

AA23 celebrates. Yes, it’s a picture of him ‘shhh-ing’

Team celebrates

GIF of Szczesny here.

Emirates celebrate even before the whistle

Cesc is relieved at the whistle

And Xavi? Take note of Arsenal DNA.

Source: Gunnerblog

For more pictures at Emirates, go here.

ARSENAL-only one team in my heart
ARSENAL WAVE!!:„ ø¤º°¨ ¨°º¤KEEP THE WAVEGOING ¸„ø¤º°¨ ¨°º¤øº LET’S GO ARSENAL!¤¤º°¨¨°º¤øº¤ø „ ¸¸ø¤º°¨„ø¤º°¨ ¨°ºL-E-T-S GO!„ø¤º °¨ ¨°º¤LET' S GO...(tharr be more) ARSENAL!¸ „ ø¤º°¨¨°º¤øºL-E-T-S GO! ¤¤º°¨ ¨°¤øº¤ø„ ¸¸ø¤º°¨ARSENAL WAVE:„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤KEEP THE WAVE GOING ¸„ø¤º°¨ ¨°º¤øº ARSENAL!¤¤º °... ..Keep ......it going!
Arsenal 2 vs Barcelona 1

P.S. We’re not going to get carried away. Yes, Barcelona are more than capable of overturning a 2-1 deficit; after all, they only need a 1-0 win at Nou Camp. But we don’t care. We just want to savour this for a bit. And hey, like Arshavin, I Still Believe.