Bolton 2-3 Arsenal – 29/03/08 – (Premier League) 30 March, 2008

Jesus Christ, that was emotional. 2-0 with ten men at half time, it was looking like a disaster but 3 goals in the last half an hour gave us all three points in an incredible come back. It was a horrible feeling at half time, I sort of couldn’t believe it, it was so bad to be true.

It was an amazing game, I didn’t get to watch it but I was listening on the radio, which made it even worse because I didn’t have a fucking clue what was going on.

We started with a quite mix-and-match team. Kolo was right-back, we had Diaby and Hleb on the wings and it was Bendtner up front partnering van Persie.

We started the game well; we were knocking it around with confidence and creating chances. We were by far the better team in the opening stages; I was thinking it’d be nice if we could get an early goal. However it was Bolton it took the fucking lead after 14 minutes. They got down the right and sent a really great cross into the box where there was just Taylor to aim for. He continued his run and beat Toure to the header sending it low down my Almunia’s side making it hard for him to react to.

We tried not to let it get us down though, we carried on playing. van Persie was out through just to the left of the box, he sent a cross in which was put out. From the resulting corner the ball found it’s way to Toure outside the box, he let fire and the ball took two or three deflections and ended up just agonisingly bouncing past the post; it could’ve gone anywhere.

Things went from bad, to worse 12 minutes from the break. The ball was passed to Steinsson who passed quickly but Abou Diaby has already committed his lunge in and we went studs first right into his standing foot. It was a stupid challenge from Diaby and he was sent off. Fuck. We had to play with 10 men for the last hour of the game, not the end of the world, but we were a goal down.

It looked like we were going to break one man, and one goal down…but then things got really bad. We had a throw-in, right in the corner of the pitch. We were passing it around to start an attack when Flamini was unaware of the pressure behind him and lost the ball in a dangerous position. Bolton picked it up quickly on the edge of the box. Diouf squared it and Taylor came running in and smashed it, Senderos dived in but it actually came off Gallas who was standing right in the way but turned his back deflecting it right into the corner out of Almunia’s reach.

Half time was a long 15 minutes. It must’ve been the worst half time of the season, 2-0 down to Bolton, with 10 men and it looks like we were stuck on this terrible bad run. As I said earlier, I found it hard to believe. For me, it was a mixture of depression, confusion and couldn’tgiveafuckness. I was just like, fuck this, I hate football, season’s over. Gunnerblog wrote his match report after just 45 minutes, he’d seen enough also.

We still had a whole second half to go though.

We nearly went three down early in the second half. Almunia gave away a free-kick out wide after charging out to clear the ball. A dangerous ball was headed out by Bendtner but from the resulting corner Almunia was forced to make a reaction save with his leg on the line. Jesus fucking Christ Arsenal.

An hour gone, and it was still 0-0. Something needed to be done. Wenger decided it was time for the change. A bit late in my opinion but oh well. Theo Walcott came on for Senderos and the rested Adebayor came on for Bendtner, who didn’t have a bad game, he just didn’t look as likely to score. It was a very attacking formation considering we had 10 men; we needed to go for it.

Their impact was immediate. Robin van Persie won a corner, which Fabregas took, he sent it deep and Gallas came running in to the back post completely unmarked to slot it in. It was comical defending, shocking from Bolton. 2-1 now, come on Arsenal, we can get another goal cant we? We ran straight back to our half for Bolton’s kick-off. Game on.

We needed another goal, and we didn’t have long to find it. However 6 minutes later, in the 69th minute, we won a penalty. It was a great attacking move from Arsenal with some great one touch passes which resulted in Hleb getting fouled. I was thinking, Adebayor’s going to take this and miss it, however van Persie placed it on the spot, the man who hasn’t scored since October had the hopes and prayers of the Arsenal fans on his shoulders. He stepped up and send the ‘keeper the wrong way smashing it to the right.

We’d done it! What a come back! No. No we hadn’t done it, a draw with Bolton wasn’t good enough. We didn’t have long but we still had to try and win this. It was going to be risky because Bolton can break but we still had to go for it.

It didn’t look like it was going to be though; we had a few chances in the final 10 minutes. The best coming to van Persie when Walcott did some great work down the right to send in a low cross to the near post but Robin smashed it high and wide. He had a similar chance from the other side a few minutes later, this time Flamini provided the chance but van Persie smashed it way off target again.

This looked like it was going to be 2-2, oh well, at least we didn’t lose. We had just a few minutes of injury time to get that winner. Come on Arsenal!

Clichy picked it up on the left, send a great through ball to Hleb who took it to the by-line. Fabregas was in a bit of space just behind him, and Alex cut it back. Fabregas shot, it took two deflections but somehow found it’s way in! We’d done it! FABREGAS! YESSSS! What a come back, what a fight! Come on Arsenal!!!

Everyone went mental! It was brilliant. Oh my god, we left it late but we’d done it. It went down as a Samuel OG but who cares?

3-2 final score, what a game. What an emotional game, why can’t we just win easily? I’m knackered just re-writing it all this morning. Jesus. Thanks for reading.

Bolton Preview: Ade rested & Sagna out 28 March, 2008

Right, after a rather shit weekend we have to get our heads down and get on with it. It’s a trip up north to The Reebok which was been a hard place to go in recent times. However they’re a different side now, Allardyce’s side used to kick us off the park and nick points off us but they’re not as good anymore.

Anelka’s left for a level of greater cuntishness, Jaaskelainen is injured and Allardyce is long gone. Their ‘keeper often has the game of his life against us so I’m pretty glad he’s out.

What I’m trying to say is, they shouldn’t trouble us. I used to fear Bolton away but we really shouldn’t be having trouble playing up there anymore. After last weekend’s nightmare we really, really need to end this bad streak with a win tomorrow.

Anything other than three points, and we really are in disaster mode. We could really do with a comfortable win here, for confidence’s sake. 3-0 would do the job nicely. It seems perfectly possible, the players wont be happy about slipping up in the title race and I’m sure they’ll want to put in a good performance more than the fans might want them to.

You have to think about the possibility of the unthinkable. If Bolton we to hold us to a draw, of even win, then I think I might commit suicide. I can see Bolton scrapping out a draw too. We need to show that we are The Arsenal and we are better than fucking Bolton Wanderers. If we don’t take all three points then we truly are out of the title race; mathematically it’ll still look possible but the resulting misery from dropping points to Bolton will surely rule it all out.

I can’t actually remember the last time we won. It was against Blackburn, but it seems so long ago. A win tomorrow is vital. I know I’ve basically said this in different ways in every paragraph of this post, but that’s how important a win here is.

Team news. Sagna is out for at least three weeks from that injury he picked up at Chelsea. Fuck. He’s been brilliant for us this season, one player you can always count on. So that leaves us with three options, Hoyte, Eboue or Toure. I’m hoping Arsene goes for Kolo, he’s not a natural right back but he has a lot of power going forward and always does everything he can. That’s mean brining Senderos back into the middle and some people have been saying this week that he never should’ve left. He found a bit of form while Kolo was out but lost his place to the Ivorian, it’s be nice to see him back.

There are no other injuries or recovered players but Arsene has hinted he might rest Adebayor. Wenger said, “He would need a little breather, maybe.” and then said that he has Bendtner and van Persie. I’m going to take that hint and guess that he rests Ade. I was thinking earlier this week that it could be an option. With Liverpool coming up we need him to be as sharp as possible.

With those two changes in mind, here’s how I see the team:

I’m still waiting to see Walcott play but I don’t think this’ll be his week, I bet Eboue starts again. Theo might have trouble being pushed around tomorrow afternoon so there might be a tactical decision made there. Still, he’s good coming off he bench blah blah blah…

It’s a 3pm kick-off tomorrow so it’s not on UK television. I’m going to a local pub that has all the dodgy channels, so they might be able to pick it up there. If I do manage to catch the game, there’ll be a match report on Sunday. Thanks for reading, Happy Friday people!

Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal – 23/03/08 – (Premier League) 24 March, 2008

Oh dear. I’m never going to fucking Walkabout again to watch football. Not only did we lose, again, but the TVs cut out in the middle of the match, and when they got turned back on we were 2-1 down. I thought I might be able to break the unlucky Walkabout streak with a great result at Chelsea but no.

Our terrible league form goes on. We were 5 points clear of United and 9 points clear of Chelsea not so long ago. Now after 4 draws and a loss we’ve slumped down to 3rd now 6 points behind the impressive Manchester United. I have to hand it to them; they are a fucking good team, with so much quality in reserve too. They deserve to win the league. We played well and the beginning of the season but we’ve sort of been hanging on since them, getting the results. A goal scoring run from Adebayor helped us to gain a 5 point lead but those goals dried up and here we are.

We’re just not as good as them, I really wish Wenger would buy so we had great players on the bench too. I just don’t see it happening. Yesterday I was saying, ‘That’s it; we’re out of the title race. We’ve just lost the league.’ However, that’s not strictly true. We are still very much in it but with the way we’re playing, and with United winning every game it looks unlikely.

We still have to go to Old Trafford, if we can win there that’s 3 points reduced off the gap. Them one weekend where Man Utd lose and we win and we’re level on points again. It can all change quickly but it’s not looking good.

Right, the game. We started as I thought but not long into the game van Persie was pushed out wide to play Hleb behind Adebayor. It didn’t work in my opinion.

The first half was quite an even game. The game opened well and there were some chances for both sides but nothing really came of them. However in the 25th minute Drogba found himself clean through on goal after John Terry’s long kick forward. He beat Gallas to it but just as he got into the area the ball came off his knee and Almunia collected. Phew.

A couple of minutes later, we had a really good chance at the other end. Clichy’s cross got taken down in the area but neither Eboue or Adebayor could get enough on it to shoot goalwards.

Just before the whistle we had a fantastic chance from the first corner of the game. Fabregas took it and Toure headed it on to Gallas as the far post. He slid in but could only manage to hit the post. It was agonisingly close but he was flagged for offside anyway in the end. Very marginal though.

Chelsea had a few decent chances in the final few minutes but in the end it finished 0-0 at half time. It was a good first half with opportunities for both sides. It was bound to be a good second half and I think both fans were probably thinking they could win it.

The second 45 started well and you had to think a goal would come sometime. In the end we opened the scoring just before the hour through Sagna. It was another Cesc Fabregas corner; this time it was delivered into the near post and Sagna timed his run and header perfectly to slot it just inside the post. A great header, m=you might say it was a bit lucky though.

1-0 up and it was all looking good. I was confident. I thought we should still put Walcott on though; I thought he could make the difference on the break and get us another goal. Sagna went down injured and I was thinking this was the time for Theo. However Wenger chose the more defensive option and went for Diaby. However almost straight away Chelsea equalised. Drogba chested down a long ball forward and managed to get a powerful shot on it before a defender could dive in the way. Quick instincts from Drogba and it was 1-1. I bet Wenger wishes he brought Theo on now?

So he brought Walcott on a few minutes later for van Persie. 1-1. Come on Arsenal.

Then the TVs cut out. Everyone cheered sarcastically ‘Whayyyyy!’ I didn’t though, I went outside to try and get my mates back in, they went to the cashpoint but weren’t allowed re-entry for some stupid reason. I was talking to the bouncer when I got a text…

GOAL!: Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal. Anelka knocks a long ball to Drogba and the big man hooks it past Almunia (82)

I showed my mates the text and said, ‘Fuck this we’re leaving.’ I went inside to get my coat, TVs still off but I knew what had happened. I just wanted to get out of there before the TVs went back on and the Chelsea fans started celebrating. Just as I got to our table the Sky signal reconnected and they all went mental. I stormed out.

In the end the bar next door was showing the rest of the game so I decided to go in there for a bit just to see if we could equalise. We brought on Bendtner but nothing happened. It finished 2-1 and it felt pretty shit to be honest. I saw the replay of the goal, it was a quick free kick from near the half way line that Anelka nodded down and Drogba finished. Thought Almunia could’ve done better with the save but he made up for himself a few minutes later when he made a good save to deny Drogba his hat trick.

So that was it. Title race over? No, as I explained, we’re still in it but it’s going to take a lot of effort. We need to just carry on doing our stuff and just make sure that we are up there incase United slip up. There’s not point in giving up, lets just keep putting the pressure on them.

We need to end this bad run at Bolton next week though. If we don’t pick up three points there, for the sixth game in a row, Then it really is over, it’s up to Chelsea to challenge United.

Lets pick ourselves up and get on with out games. As I said, it’s Bolton next, build up to come this week. Thanks for reading.

Chelsea Preview: ‘Make or Break’ time 22 March, 2008

That’s the general opinion from the English media at the moment and we’ve got the chance to rub it in tomorrow. Ashley Cole has gone from the heights of being a fans favourite at Arsenal, a young English defender, an Arsenal fan who made his way through the youth system. Now he’s right down in the dumps, a money-grabbing cunt who cheats on his wife, second choice at Chelsea to Wayne Bridge and now the most hated player in the league, not just by Arsenal fans.

He’s really fucked himself up and he deserves every bit of it. As a Gooner, I’ve loved watching him plummet to the scum he is. He could be playing tomorrow and I just think it would be perfect if we could just put the final nail in his coffin; He joined Chelsea at a time when they were a growing force and every player that moved there believed they would be joining the best club in the world and dominating Europe. That hasn’t been the case though and I think if we can beat Cole’s Chelsea tomorrow it’ll just show him what a stupid, stupid boy he’s been.

Tomorrow’s not just about Cole though. It’s about the Premier League title. Wenger reminded us yesterday that ‘Grand Slam Sunday’ won’t decide the championship, however it could definitely have an effect on the title race. If we were to beat Chelsea tomorrow and Torres sticks a couple past United then we’ll be joint top and the team in confidence. However if United carry on winning and Chelsea take the three points then we can almost count ourselves out of it.

We’ve drawn four in a row in the league and it’s not pretty. I think the main reason for this has been inspiration. When you face the likes of Wigan, it’s hard to focus on delivering a top performance. Whereas if you were playing AC Milan, the concentration would be on maximum and you know every player would put more than 100% of their efforts in.

Going to Stamford Bridge should hopefully inspire us to put on a good show. The players have fucked up in the last four games so they owe the fans a win. They need to show us that they’re still in there for the fight.

The team news is the same from the last game, no new injuries. It’s just Eduardo, Rosicky, Diaby and Denilson who are out so the team pretty much picks itself. You’d have to think we’ll go 4-4-2 with van Persie up front but he was pretty anonymous in the last game. Arsene will have been looking at his sharpness in training this week and hopefully he’s made an improvement.

We could go with just the one up top. Or maybe even play Hleb behind Adebayor depends how Arsene’s going to approach it. I don’t now what he’s thinking, I can’t read his mind. However I can guess that he’ll start Eboue ahead of Walcott…

I’d quite like Theo to start tomorrow. He’s great coming on from the bench, that impact is a massive part of his game. However we could do with his talent for the whole 90 minutes, not jus tthe final 15 or whatever. I’d like it if Theo starts the game but I wont be too fussed if we bring him on from the bench.

Flamini is going to be key tomorrow. He still hasn’t signed that new contract but Wenger says he’s completely committed every day despite the ongoing negotiations. Arsene says in that piece he hopes to get the deal signed next month. Once Matty puts pen to paper I’m going to be so relieved, until then though it’s a bit worrying. I’ve heard that he wants 80,000 a week! Completely breaking our wage structure, and of course if we was to get that then everyone else is going to want a pay rise. It’s a tough call for Wenger and the financial department.

It’s going to be two good games tomorrow. Liverpool vs. Man Utd is the early kick off, that starts at half one. We’ve got to hope our Champions League opponents can do something to stop United. Torres is in goal scoring form and I’m backing him to get us them a goal. I’m definitely going to be watching both games. I was thinking about going down to the 12 Pins to watch ‘Grand Slam Sunday’ but I’m just going to go to Walkabout in Watford. I’m hoping to break a run of bad results there, every time I’ve been we’ve lost so yeah…if we lose it’s my fault, sorry.

It’s gonna be massive, so make sure you’re watching. I’ll write up the match report on Monday, speak to you then.

‘Boro Preview: Theo, Robin & Kolo match fit 14 March, 2008

We need to forget about the Champions League draw for the moment, we play in the Premier League tomorrow, which will be a massive game. We’ve drawn our last three games in the League and we need to get back to winning ways if we want to win this trophy.

We lost to Middlesbrough when we went to the Riverside earlier in the season. So we know that the wont be easy. Anything other than a win tomorrow and I’ll be hanging my head for the 4th successive game. Although a draw against ‘Boro wouldn’t really be the end of the world, the way we’re playing in the Premiership at the moment it would really lower our confidence.

The team news ahead of the game is quite good. Walcott & Eboue are back in the squad. Also, we saw van Persie and Toure return last week but Wenger says that this time they are fully match fit whereas last week they were a little behind. The leaves just Diaby, Rosicky and Eduardo out injured then, things are looking on the up.

For once Wenger’s got a few different options for the starting 11. Apart from Rosicky, we’re back to full strength! So it’s just really a decision of Eboue or Walcott on the right wing. I feel Arsene will go for Eboue, I know I’ve said this thousands of times but Walcott has such a great impact coming on as a sub it’s worth not starting him. With Toure back, Wenger has now got to choose whether to stick with the in-form Senderos, or put Toure straight back into the team. I’d go for Toure but I wouldn’t be worried if Big Phil made the 11.

So he’s how I see us lining up tomorrow:

No real surprises there I don’t think. Hopefully Eboue can behave and just do his job on the wing and Toure will slot straight back in like he never left.

I’m sitting in a box for tomorrow’s game, I’ve never been into club level or a box before so it’ll be good to see what it’s like up there but I know I’ll still always prefer it in the stands! The tickets are from o2 from that competition my Dad entered, part of getting down to the finalist. It’s in the ‘o2 Blue Room’ whatever that means.

Going to have to leave early again I think, I have work to get back for. Maybe I’ll be able to sort out going to work a bit late…

The game kicks off at 5.15 and it’s live on Setanta Sports 1. However you’re following the game, do everything possible to cheer the boys on to victory. We really need three points tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Wigan 0-0 Arsenal – 09/03/08 – (Premier League) 10 March, 2008

Jesus Christ. That’s 3 draws in a row now; we haven’t won in a month! We were 5 points clear not so long ago and everything looked great but now look where we are. Man United can go a point ahead of us now if they win their game in hand.

We started with the team I thought it’d be, there was really no other option. Toure, Song and van Persie all returned from their injuries to make the bench, but you have to wonder if they were they to just make up the numbers or whether they were actually fit.

We got off to a flying start and caught Wigan out early. Adebayor was sent clean through on goal but Kirkland came rushing out to narrow Adebayor down and he made a great save on the edge of the box.

It would turn out to be our best chance of the game, however with such a promising start I thought it wouldn’t be long until a goal came. How wrong I was.

The pitch was terrible up in Wigan, the rugby lines were still clearly visible on the pitch but it was still not a surface fit for that sport. A few minutes after Adebayor’s chance, Bendtner got free down the left hand side of the box and was getting ready to square the ball in when he completely missed the ball with a massive air-shot. The replay showed that the ball was bobbling around all over the place thanks to the pitch making it impossible for Nick to strike the ball.

The opening 10 minutes or so weren’t bad, we hadn’t got an early goal but we looked on course to break Kirkland’s clean sheet.

However half time came and it was still 0-0. We’d had most of the possession but we couldn’t really work an opening. Wigan had a couple of chances of their own but you had to say we were on top. We still had another half to score thought so I wasn’t too worried at this point.

We nearly scored early in the second half; a couple of goalmouth scrambles were cleared and Wigan were safe again. The game was becoming increasingly frustrating to watch. As time ticked on I was just hanging on to that slip belief that we could get that late goal.

After 66 minutes Wenger decided we needed a change. Robin van Persie got his first League appearance since God knows how long ago, he came on for an uninspiring Bendtner. Nick has a habit of scoring late, important goals though but Arsene decided to put van Persie on anyway. Kolo Toure also returned from injury replacing Gilberto Silva who has completely had it. It’s really sad to see a player play so badly, a player that most of the Arsenal fans loved. He looks past it, a great contrast from the performances he saw last year. Toure came on at right midfield, which shows the extent of our problems.

The substitutions didn’t really change anything, I thought the introduction of van Persie might inspire some decent football but nothing happened. Robin had a decent chance with a free kick, but it was smashed over the bar.

In the last few minutes Fabregas found himself free in the box, 6 yards out but Kirkland reacted quickly stopping Cesc from slotting the ball underneath him.

At the whistle it ended up a very disappointing 0-0. I asked before the game for a ‘San Siro performance’ but it was nowhere near that quality yesterday; you have to blame it on the Champions League hangover I guess. Yesterday was the day we came crashing down to earth and we’re really going to have to work at our league form. It looks like that match at Old Trafford next month will be a decisive one.

Arsene’s got a week to sort the players out before we face Middlesbrough this weekend. If we don’t win that then we’re really on a bad run. ‘Boro got outclassed by Cardiff this weekend so we should really win, shouldn’t we? Build up to come this week.

Wigan Preview: Another San Siro Performance Please 8 March, 2008

After a massive night in the San Siro earlier in the week, we now have to travel up to cold and wet Wigan in the Premier League. It’s one hell of a scenery change, but that shouldn’t mean we change our game. We want another great performance to continue our title chase and put the pressure on Manchester United and Chelsea who both got knocked out the FA Cup today. Ha! Yes, Chelsea were playing Barnsley.

So we’ve got an opportunity to go 4 points clear tomorrow, Man United and Chelsea will have a game in hand but it will still put pressure on the to perform.

The squad’s a little thin for tomorrow’s game. Diaby, Denilson and Walcott are the latest casualties meaning Fabregas will probably have to play right wing. He’s not bad there, but we’ll miss him in the middle. He proved on Tuesday night that he is an important cog in our midfield machine so hopefully it wont be so bad if we shift him out to the right.

There are a few options for tomorrow’s first 11 but here’s my best guess:

We could maybe start Hoyte on the right wing; I don’t think that’s a bad shout. The Gilberto and Flamini pairing in the middle might be a little defensive. We’ll just have to wait and see what Wenger does, I’m sure he’ll sort it out.

It’s not going to be easy going up to the JJB tomorrow, the pitch is going to be shit so I think it’s going to be more of a battle than a skilful display. With Bendtner and Ade upfront we’ve got two targets to hoof long balls at so maybe we might get away without doing all the intricate passes we’re used to.

In recent times, it’s taken a late goal from us to take the points; I think we might need another one tomorrow. I see it being a one or two nil win with us dominating the game but Wigan keeping it 0-0 for most of the match. Hopefully though, we just completely outclass them and it’s a walk in the park.

Kick off tomorrow is at 4 and it’s on Sky Sports. I’m not going, wish I was though, might ask some people if there are any spares about. I’ll speak to you with the match report soon, until then.

Arsenal 1-1 Aston Villa – 01/03/08 – (Premier League) 2 March, 2008

Well thank fuck for that. Bendtner’s last minute goal allowed us to grab a point from a game where we probably didn’t deserve it. I’ve only just seen the goal, I had to leave early to go to work. Felt like a right Judas walking out with 82 minutes gone but I left it as long as I could, in the end I got to work just two minutes late.

The team was on the one I predicted, Diaby getting a start after returning from injury and Walcott partnering Adebayor. However we soon switched it around putting Theo on the wing and Hleb was the second striker.

We started reasonably well, we looked sharp and promising. Walcott had the best chance after 7 minutes when he stole some space and fired a shot towards goal but Carson was equal to it. The Aston Villa ‘keeper had a fantastic day, he made four or five good saves to keep them in it. It’s so frustrating watching all these goalies come to Ashburton Grove, get inspired by the surroundings and have the game of their lives. Bloody annoying.

Villa were doing alright at the other end too, it was a fairly even game in the opening minutes, both sides had some decent chances. Agbonlahor went clean through with just Almunia to beat, I was saying, “This is a goal, 1-0.” However William Gallas didn’t give up and he managed to get back and make the tackle.

They did take the lead after 27 minutes though. Agbonlahor had the ball out on the left and fizzed a ball low into the box. Senderos tried to clear it at the near post but he put the ball just inside the post with Almunia left stranded. You can’t really blame Big Phil for the goal but I’m sure he didn’t enjoy it.

I was expecting Villa to score so it wasn’t a massive shock, but at least we had an hour of football to do something about it. We didn’t do a lot in the remainder of the first half, that goal shocked the team a bit I think and Villa were on a high. The visitors had the better of the first half and a couple more chances before the break. We needed to come out with a different attitude.

Arsene sorted them out at half time and we came out with ambition and we attacked straight from the kick off, Walcott had a decent shot saved. We were passing and moving like anything and I was reminded of the game last weekend when we came out well in the second half and scored twice. That wasn’t the case yesterday, we soon lost that spark and it was more urgency and panic football than lovely and skilful.

There was 40 minutes left on the clock when I started to get worried. I was begging Wenger to make a bold change and bring Bendtner on early. 10 minutes later he did, Diaby came off. He didn’t have the best game yesterday; it was obvious who needed to be taken off.

We were having a lot of the ball towards the end of the game, however Villa were defending with 10 men, literally, and we couldn’t break them down. I was thinking ‘We have to score we have to score we have to score’ over and over. All this pressure had to be made to count. My anxiety was intensified by watching the clock tick away, I must have looked at the clock every 10 seconds.

Not only did it mean that our chance to get any points was slowly disappearing, I also knew that I really had to leave, as much as I didn’t want to. In the end it took Walcott to go clean through in the box and miss for me to go ‘Oh fuck it!’ and I got up and left.

I felt so embarrassed walking up those steps with the game going on around me. Whenever I see people leaving early like I was yesterday I don’t like it. I think why have they so urgently got to go? Well I’ve realised maybe they have got places to be, places to go or whatever. I had the choice of either not going yesterday, or just leaving 10 minutes early. I think I know what you would’ve all done.

As I walked to the station I kept my ears fully alert for a sign of anything that might be happening inside the stadium, but nothing. Along my walk I looked through the pub’s windows to check the score. Still 1-0, fuck. However when I just got to the station, a London Underground guy goes, “It’s 1-1, they just equalised in the last minute.” I replied, “Are you joking?” I was convinced he was winding me up but he spoke the truth and it was good! I got the goal confirmed soon after by text message and my journey home was slightly less shit.

9 days ago we were 5 points clear at the top of the league, now the gap is only one point. Last weekend we lost the chance to win in the last minute, this weekend we grabbed a point in the last minute.

Next up it’s AC Milan in the Champions League. I’m flying out to Italy early tomorrow morning so the match preview will have to be done tonight, I might time it so it publishes tomorrow though. Right, got to go, thanks for reading.