Open Mic: Arsenal: My Biggest High and Worst Low in Football

I've been an Arsenal fan for 10 years now, and these 10 years have provided a whole lot of highs and lows for me. Being associated with the club, watching them play on television and score goals has brought a lot of joy to my life as it has done for millions of other fans.

On the other hand, trying to understand the game of football and everything about it for me was done by watching Arsenal F.C.

So, naturally, my biggest high and the biggest low were both provided by them when it comes to football.

Biggest Low: The Romance of Paris Turning Sour

The biggest low was losing the final of the Champions League to Barcelona in the 2005-06 season. The adrenaline rush to actually see Arsenal in the final of this prestigious tournament was phenomenal.

But then, the dreams turned into my worst nightmare, as Jens Lehmann was sent off for a foul on Eto'o and Arsenal were reduced to 10 men in the most important match of the season.

This was also Robert Pires' call for coming off, as one of Arsenal's most favourite players ended his career with the club right after this game (and then stated that it was that very moment of being substituted that was his reason for quitting Arsenal).

We then scored rather miraculously, with Sol Campbell heading in from Henry's freekick. Henry then missed a glorious opportunity to double the lead in the second half—and it was something that all of us rue to date.

That is because the introduction of Henrik Larsson and Juliano Belletti changed the game, with the latter grabbing a goal and the former being the cause of another (rather dubious goal, if I may add)—with the second being scored after 80 minutes.

That sunk Arsenal fans' hearts and I could barely recover from that absolutely heart-breaking night in Paris—even though I wasn't actually there!

Biggest High: Winning the Title at Old Trafford

In what was billed as the "clash of the titans" in the 2001-02 season, Arsenal took on Manchester United in a game which would be remembered for years to come by the Arsenal fans.

Arsenal winning that match would mean that Manchester United couldn't win the league mathematically—and that is exactly what happened.

Sir Alex Ferguson caused a stir before the match by leaving Ruud van Nistelrooy out of the starting lineup in the crucial match, claiming that he was unfit to start.

The game exploded into action when Paul Scholes made a wild challenge on Edu, with Phil Neville also trying to physically intimidate Arsenal with a wild lunge on Sylvain Wiltord.

But, Manchester United created nothing of any substance at all during the match.

Arsenal then struck the killer blow in the 55th minute when Wiltord scored after Fredrik Ljungberg's shot was saved by Fabien Barthez.

That goal meant that Arsenal completed half of their double for that season, and the celebration of winning the title started that night—where, you ask?

Old Trafford, May 8, 2002—what a night, what a result!