Well, what can you say about that?
“Get in you yellow lovely Arsenal bastards!”, might be one thing. There are countless more. And they’ve all been said by all the Arsenal fans all over the world who suffered through that last night.
And suffered is right. Because it was a very poor game of football. Let’s be clear about that. As good as the first game was to watch this was downright painful because we never really got into the game. In the 120 minutes we never had what you might call a clear chance to score, bar one moment in the second half when Eboue might have set Bendtner free but didn’t. Sagna and Diaby had headers straight at the keeper and that was about it.
This was on top of us conceding a truly awful goal. The kind of defending you would be gutted if your Sunday league team dished up. Gallas should have put his foot through it, didn’t. Kolo thought Gallas was going to put his foot through it, swiped at it himself, missed. Awful. The ball ran through to Juan at the back post. Juan scored. 1-0 Roma and 1-1 on aggregate. Almunia kept us in it, not for the first time this season, as Roma dominated the first half an hour.
The game settled into boringness. Tedium. Dullosity. The introduction of Theo didn’t help much. The introduction of Eduardo made little difference. We huffed and puffed. Nasri tried to make things happen, nothing happened. Robin van Persie cut an isolated and lonely figure up front on his own. That’s not his game.
Julio Bapista, formerly of Arsenal, is put through by Totti. He just has to sidefoot it home from 6 yards. He makes a like a donkey with a fly on his leg, kicks out, more or less misses the ball. Arsenal are let off the hook by the former Arsenal man. The home crowd, so vociferous in their support of the team, aren’t shy in letting him know what they think. I felt kind of sorry for him in a way. Of course I wanted him to miss but despite being utterly crap he wasn’t/isn’t a bad guy.
Extra time. Then it got nerve-wracking. The later it got the more powerful an Arsenal goal would become. So too a Roma score. But the game being the game it was meant no goals were scored and it was down to penalties. And when it comes to penalties you never think of the successful ones, only the heartbreak, the misery.
We go first. Eduardo. Safe, dependable, just back from injury fates would never mock him like this, Eduardo.
Miss. What? No.
Roma score. Bastards. Robin van Persie steps up. Buries it.
Vucinic for Roma. Good player, has been busy and dangerous all night. Takes the worst penalty ever. Comically bad. Manuel saves without even having to move. Get in. We’re back in this.
Theo. Scores. Baptista. Scores. Nasri, looking like Martina Navratilova’s secret and clearly exhausted lovechild. Scores. Montella. Cool as a cucumber. Scores. Denilson. Scores.
All you can think is that the more often we score the closer we’re getting to the point where someone misses.
Totti up for Roma. His knee in a huge brace. Scores. Kolo steps up. Runs up. Really runs up. Sidefoots it home. Scores.
Aquilani. Rumoured Arsenal target. Would he like to still come? All he has to do is miss and we’ll welcome him with open arms. Scores. Stay in Rome you fucker!
Sagna. Scores. Riise, ex-Mugsmasher. How much fun would it be if he missed. No fun at all because he doesn’t. He scores.
Diaby. Casual. Leisurely. Rolls it home. Somewhat jammy. It doesn’t matter. Up steps Tonetto.
Just one Tonetto, give it to me, to miss a penno, in Italy.
It’s over. Over the bar. It’s Waddle-esque in its overness. We’re through. They’re out. Get the fuck in!
It may not have been a great performance, but it doesn’t matter. The defending might have been shit for the goal, but it doesn’t matter. We might not have created any chances, but it doesn’t matter. Our unbeaten record might be gone, but it doesn’t matter.
What matters is that we’re through. Into the 1/4 finals. That’s all that matters. Analysis. Pffff. Who gives a fuck? It’s about time we got a break this season and anyone who wants to poke holes in what they saw last night in the wake of the result is too miserable for their own good.
You have to celebrate things like that as an Arsenal fan. As a Gooner. As someone that bleeds red and white. Do you think the thousands of Arsenal fans who went to Rome, who did us all proud, who we could all hear as we watched the game, who sang their hearts out for the lads, stood with a Perroni in hand afterwards and said ‘I know we won but you know what? We really didn’t play that well’?
Did they fuck. They celebrated late into the night, they enjoyed the result, and that’s what we should all do. We know how we can do better, of course we do, but there’s a time and a place for that discussion and it’s some other time. Not now.
You can download and relive the penalty shootout via Arsenalist or 101GreatGoals.
After conceding an early goal and missing the first penalty, you need something special, mental strength to come back and win it. I am proud of the mental strength because it has been questioned a lot.
I believe this kind of result can increase the belief and the self-confidence which can help us for the rest of the season.
I’m not sure what else needs to be said really. There are times you just to sit back and let the result do the talking.
Well done to the lads. I love the Arsenal and I sincerely apologise for the mixed tenses in today’s blog, but it doesn’t matter.
Till tomorrow Goon Squad. Beep Beep.
