Wigan do a 'Kanu'!

A picture tells a thousand words

If someone missed out on the last 10 minutes of the game yesterday, he should be forgiven for considering us still in the title race. A Walcott goal and another by Silvestre should’ve seen Arsenal sail through comfortably, getting 3 points bringing them closer to leaders Chelsea. However, the man of the moment, Lukasz Fabianski, like always screwed up the game, & with it the any outside chances for the title.

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Arguably the first Goonerette from India, Amreen takes time out for 11G & dwells on the above. Hope you like what she has to offer. Find her on Facebook!

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Three goals in 10 minutes turned the game in Wigan’s favour at the DW Stadium and trampled upon our title hopes (whatever little we had) for this season.

Saturday night’s games had given Arsenal yet another bout of hope; United tamed City 1-0 and Chelsea were crushed by the Spurs 1-2. Our team consisted of young, but experienced players; Silvestre and Campbell between them had more than 1000 games in English Football. This was a must win game for both Arsenal & Wigan; either could pass or fail.

Almunia apparently, was not playing due to a wrist injury, and would be out for the rest of the season, said Arsene Wenger, in a pre-match report. Vito Mannoe was kept on the bench, but perhaps, he would’ve done a better job. Robin Van Persie too was benched, and Eastmond was handed a start.

Wigan were dominating, which was quite surprising after their mid-week defeat to an under-strength Portsmouth, but the Gunners shaded ball possession as expected.

31st minute was the turning point, and in retrospect, that cost us the game. Theo Walcott had an amazing opportunity to score, but something got in to him and he passed the ball to a Wigan player! Maybe he freaked out, maybe he wasn’t sure if he could score, but he should have taken the chance.

He did bounce back in the 41st minute. It was an easy goal- there were no defenders, and even the goalie was nowhere close to the goal.

Half time saw the score as WIG 0-1 ARS.

Second half started with a bang- Silvestre scored! A corner from Nasri and he pushed it in with a header.
From then on, it looked as if the Gunners had already won the match. Their passes were not connecting, they were hardly trying to get shots on target, and most importantly, Fabianski looked as if he were a statue. He was just not moving!! It was his birthday and we all expected him to perform well, but I guess he’ll always remain abysmal.

Perhaps it was then Wenger should have brought on Van Persie. 20 minutes to go and we needed to score one more to secure our 3 points.

But that was far from happening. Lousy playing from our side led to Watson’s goal with 10 minutes left. 7 Arsenal players and Fabianski were not enough to stop him.

Titus Bramble and Charles N’Zogbia of all people put the final nails in our coffin and we were done for. Van Persie came on just before stoppage time, but there was nothing he could’ve done.

We were bad, we were pathetic and towards the end we became over-confident.

Wenger needs to rethink his options, if he wants to end the 4-year long jinx and get hands on some silverware. We need a goalie, one who wouldn’t fumble, and would meet challenges head on. Van Persie needs to start here on; Wenger has to give that guy some credit. He brings him on in the last few minutes, and expects him to weave his magic ASAP. Just not fair.

There’s a lot of thinking and buying of new players which needs to be done before the next season kicks off. Also, injuries have to be checked… if players like Fabregas, Ashravin, Song and Van Persie are going to out of the reckoning, when we need them the most, there’s something seriously wrong, isn’t there?

Yesterday’s match results had given the Gunners a chance to catch up, but I guess whatever we do, that’s just not happening now.

Well, all’s not lost! There’s no point praying now, but as a die-hard Gunner, one thing I can’t ever give up on is hope. You never know Chelsea & Manchester United might drop points again, and hopefully we’ll be able to take advantage of that situation.

If not, it’s all over for this season, but after every sunset comes a brighter a sunrise. You never know what Chamakh, Fabregas, Van Persie, Nasri and WArshavin might hold in store for us next season! Until then, keep hoping, because we’re the Gunners & we NEVER GIVE UP! Up the Arsenal..

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