Ok, so first *boilk*.
And I mean that in the most *boilky* way possible.
Secondly, someone said to me last night, “I’ve been reading you for years but I’ve never read you after we’ve won something so I can’t wait to see what you’ll say tomorrow.”
So to you, I say “We won the cup!”
Was it the best cup win I’ve ever seen? No, no it was not. Was it torturous? Yes. Ridiculous? Yes. A thing that had to be endured rather than enjoyed? Yes. The game itself was quite unpleasant really. When I sweat that much I prefer to be doing things much more enjoyable, but you know what? It doesn’t matter a single bit because, well, we won the cup!
And if anyone says we played badly or we didn’t win it well enough, that person needs to be taken to a cliff and pushed off and then eaten by sharks because the fact is we were 2-0 down in the FA Cup final and came back to win 3-2.
This morning Arsenal have 1 cup and Hull have no cups. If we didn’t do it with enough style for your liking then I suggest you reconsider what you do for enjoyment purposes and that you seek out the nearest cliff for leaping off onto jagged rocks purposes (making sure there are sharks just in case you survive the drop).
When the final whistle went I got a text from the Blogfather, who had been at the 1971 FA Cup final, which said “They don’t believe in doing it the easy way!”, and if that wasn’t the most Arsenal way to win a cup final then I don’t know what is.
2-0 down inside 8 minutes and I have to admit that even in my worst nightmare scenario that was unexpected to me. The first goal was a bit fortunate from a Hull point of view, but I do wonder if the difference between the two keepers might have been a factor. Hull did what they did at their place a few weeks back, but instead of Szczesny commanding the area Fabianski was more static and I do think that played a part.
The only good thing about being 2-0 down that early is that it is that early and you’ve got enough time to get things back, but I think we have to give huge credit to Kieran Gibbs for keeping the game alive. When another Hull set-piece resulted in an effort on goal which was heading for the top corner, he made a fantastic headed clearance. That ball was going in and I think had we gone 3-0 behind it might well have been too difficult to get it back.
It’s also why the Santi Cazorla goal was so important in terms of the time and how it gave us a foothold back in the game. What a finish that was from the Spaniard – although the goalkeeper did that thing of getting a touch to slightly spoil the goal from my ridiculous point of view, it brought us back into things in a timely fashion. 2-0 at half-time might also have been a step too far.
In the second half we kept at it but it was tough to see where a goal was coming from, but if there’s anyone to grab you a scrappy set-piece goal it’s Laurent Koscielny. It was slightly reminiscent of his goal against Newcastle last season, hooking the ball in from close range, and after that there really was only one team in the game.
After bringing on Sanogo for Podolski, I think we had about twenty shots on the Hull goal. Aaron Ramsey took most of them, blazing them over but we were the team that looked most likely to win it. Rosicky and Wilshere came on in extra time and added some zip to the way we played, but given the way we were finishing things I thought penalties would be the way it would end. Sanogo put one wide, Giroud hit the bar with a thumping header, but then Aaron Ramsey.
Watching it live I didn’t see the deftness of Giroud’s assist, but the backheel into Ramsey’s path was superb and the first time finish at the near post was just ace. At that point, I was busy hugging the people I was with the game at – not to mention random strangers sitting around us – because I was sure that would be that, but then this is Arsenal and we like to do things the Arsenal way.
When Mertesacker stumbled and fell like a giant redwood, and Fabianski went full Almunia chasing out of his area, I I feared the worst. That ball rolling towards the Arsenal goal felt like watching a bullet coming towards your head in slow motion, but thankfully it went just wide and Gibbs not getting any kind of touch was probably a good thing.
Fabianski made a save low down as extra-time ran down and eventually, after the longest ten minutes I’ve ever experienced, the referee blew the final whistle. I hugged friends and strangers and high-fived people and jumped and it was one of the best feelings of all time. We met Arsenal fans who came over from the Hull end and while they were full of praise for their fans, they wanted to experience the moment surrounded by Gooners. As it should be.
When Hull got their ‘runners-up’ medals, Arsenal went up, Thomas Vermaelen (nice touch I thought), went up and lifted the cup and that thing about how we hadn’t won anything for so long is now dead. Dead and buried. Dead, buried, rotted and you know what, it feels so good.
We went back to The Tollington and to a man/woman it was all about what did, not how we did it. It’s winning that counts .We’ve had enough heartbreak over the last few years, we’ve lost finals, blown opportunities, but yesterday was our day.
From a footballing point of view it’s an obvious success, but from a fan’s point of view, enjoying that moment together at Wembley, at the pub afterwards, it really is what it’s all about. Although it was tedious to hear about how long it’s been, there’s no doubt it has created an amount of stress, but winning was an incredible release.
Sharing that with friends, the people I’ve met through Arseblog, and everyone associated with the Arsenal that I may never see again, made for a genuinely magic day. One I’ll remember forever, because, you know …
… WE WON THE CUP!
I don’t know what else to say this morning other than it was brilliant. We won the cup. It was a great day out, brilliant to celebrate it amongst so many Arsenal fans, and you’ll notice I went through this entire report without mentioning the three penalties we should have had.
We made Lee Probert irrelevant because …
… WE WON THE CUP.
Enjoy it folks, because these are the good times that the bad times make so, so good.
More tomorrow, for now, just soak it in. Arsenal FC – FA Cup winners 2014.
What else needs to be said?
