Can someone check my eyes?
PA PhotosArsenal celebrate after netting their seventh goal to complete their victoryI have a sore throat, probably a cold, most likely have some severe man-flu, but apparently my eyes are fine. I'm feeling many effects of being at the Madejski Stadium on Tuesday night, and am struggling to believe what I witnessed.
4-0 down, win 7-5. Marouane Chamakh scored two goals. Oliver Giroud helped change the game. Laurent Koscielny scored at both ends. Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick, or did he? Or did Carl Jenkinson score? I'm not sure anyone really knows. There were so many bizarre occurrences in Berkshire on a balmy Tuesday night that it's difficult to quite comprehend it all at once.
Getting the negatives out the way, Arsenal's first half was one of the worst halves I've ever seen from any Arsenal team. The players didn't look like they knew each other and looked to be throwing the tournament away. The ball was going nowhere in midfield, the defence was laughable with Djourou and Koscielny looking utterly disinterested and were being run ragged by Jason Roberts. The temptation to walk out of the ground was massive, and a few away fans did just that. Chants about spending money and the board re-emerged. I was resigned to Arsenal probably losing by six or seven goals.
I'm sure that the defending will be dissected by the club internally as the week goes on, and I'm sure that Per Mertesacker and Thomas Vermaelen weren't watching that game worried for their places in the team. However what happened after Arsenal went 4-0 down was simply awesome.
Walcott's goal just before half time turned out to be vital. The introductions of Giroud and Thomas Eisfield also changed the dynamics of the match. Giroud pulled the defence about, scored a superb header and linked up play well. Eisfield buzzed about midfield, played some excellent passes and drove the team forward.
Even at 4-2, I'd virtually accepted defeat thinking the team had left it too late to score the third. Koscielny was terrible at the back, but finished well from the corner in the 90th minute. People always say that losing sides get one chance in injury time, and it felt like Arsenal’s had gone when Walcott shot wide. Fortunately, injury time seemed to go for ages, and some direct running and scrapping got the equaliser. If it was Jenkinson’s goal, then it was brilliant to see a die-hard supporter score such a massive goal. If was Walcott’s, then it was part of a deserved hat-trick.
Needless to say, celebrations were wild in the away end. Arsenal fans can sympathise with teams that lose four goals lead (think back to Newcastle in 2011), but now we know how incredible you feel when you pull off such a comeback.
The momentum was clearly with Arsenal in injury time, and on such a crazy night, it seemed somewhat appropriate that Marouane Chamakh scored. The excellent strike from outside the box was his first since September 2011.
When it was pegged back to 5-5, I was resigned to penalties. Having come so far to get back into the game, even if it was just the League Cup (or the 5th most important trophy according to Wenger at the AGM), it would have been truly gutting to go out. Although a surprising burst of pace from Arshavin in the 120th minute ended with Walcott slamming the ball in. It felt like Arsenal had won the European Cup in the away end such were the celebrations. As far as a lot of the fans were concerned, the game was dead after 40 minutes. Suddenly it was alive, and then it was gone again. Because of that, emotions poured out at Walcott’s goal.
As with the end of the regulation 90 minutes, it felt like injury time went on for ages. Once again, Arsenal finished it was a goal. Marouane Chamakh, who much to everyone’s surprise ran around for the full 120 minutes, suddenly looked a changed man with a deft lob from Walcott’s clearance.
It’s difficult to place the match or the result into the context of the competition as it’s easy to forget that the win puts Arsenal into the quarter-finals. Even though the team was mostly made up of squad players, the momentum and buzz of the result can only be positive going into the trip to Old Trafford. However on walking out of the stadium, everything else in the season was forgotten. Fans just knew they’d been a major part of a remarkable evening of football. The sport in England is getting some bad press at the moment for some worrying reasons. If ever a match was a reminder of why supporters watch the game and why fans travel to away games, this really was it.
At the start of the second half, I just wanted Arsenal to show some desire to be playing for the club. When you travel to an away game and the performance is rubbish, it always feels like a more personal insult. It had been an utterly humiliating half of football.
As a fan, whatever the competition, you want Arsenal players to give everything and play for the shirt. The team were so far short of that in the first half it was beyond ridiculous. However they gave everything and more for the rest of the match and the away supporters responded. Every ache and pain I have from being in the away end was completely worth it. In the rest of the match after the first half, my eyes didn’t deceive me. The Arsenal players did give everything, and they dramatically and extraordinarily reaped the rewards of it. It suddenly felt as if they were one with the fans, and it was awesome.
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