Arsenal's Win Against Stoke May Prove to Be the Title Decider

A terrible situation, a terrible injury, and a terrible loss.

Arsenal have lost one of their most beloved youngsters to a horrific injury, where Ryan Shawcross broke Aaron Ramsey's leg in half.

Ramsey, who was having the best season in his life up until yesterday, is expected to be out for a long period of time.

Arsenal.com have released the following statement: 

“During yesterday’s match against Stoke City, Aaron Ramsey sustained fractures to the tibia and fibula in his right leg. Yesterday evening he underwent surgery.'

'The operation successfully reduced the fractures and whilst it is too soon to state an exact timescale for recovery, Aaron will certainly miss the remainder of this season.  Our thoughts are with Aaron at this time and everyone at the Club wishes him all the best in making as speedy a return to action as possible.”

Arsenal conceded early on in the first minutes of the game, from yet another Rory Delap throw in, and while indeed the likes of Stoke have every right to use all the weapons they have to their advantage, there should be actions taken to prevent that crazy towel move they use with every throw-in around the 18 yard box.

Seeing how this towel move wastes precious time that is not added to extra-time at the end of the game, the referees should either warn Delap, or simply issue a booking to prove a point, after all, you don't see the other teams cleaning the ball with a towel every time they have a throw-in, corner, or a goal kick.

Later on, Arsenal scored from a brilliant header by Nicklas Bendtner and the game was back to square one.

The first half ended with the scores leveled, and in the second half, it was all Arsenal; up until the hour mark, Arsenal had complete possession, Stoke didn't even get a chance to take one of their Delap throw-ins.

And right after the hour mark, Ryan Shawcross tackled a helpless Ramsey, and the Welshman's leg was torn to two pieces.

My experience

Note: While it's not considered professional to write your own opinion in an article and make it personal, this article was written by me as an Arsenal fan, not as a writer, so I thought of sharing my experience, and my friends' experience along with the other fans who witnessed this event at the time.

The moment Ramsey fell to the ground, I didn't realize that his leg was torn in half.

Then the moment he started signaling for the transfer almost immediately after falling, I looked at his leg once again, and I was heart-broken.

For the first time in a long time, I didn't care about the outcome of the game, and I was sitting speechless.

My cousin next to me, another Arsenal fan tried to cheer me up.

He said: "It could've been worse, it could've even been Fabregas or someone else from the older players."

It wasn't in anyway a useful comment.

Words were useless at that point, he knew it more than I did.

My other friends kept saying that it's about time the FA should do something, rather than sit like a bunch of useless morons.

When Arsenal scored the goal, there was an explosion of emotions.

It felt like the Gunners defied what fate had in store for them, felt like there was no reason for them to hang their boots and give up the chase.

When someone is connected to his team, it's more than just watching a team play a game of football, it's not an obsession about the player's lives, but it's more of an interest in seeing how far these players can make it in life.

They make you happy, so naturally you wish them the best.

Ramsey was phenomenal this season, the fans are hoping that he comes back, and with the same potential and talent shown by him earlier in the season. 

At that point in time, none of us even imagined the possibilities that such an injury would occur again.

Deja-vu ?

On Feb. 23rd, 2008, Eduardo went through one of the worst injuries a man could go through in his career.

A game against Birmingham, and the referee awarded Birmingham a ghost penalty, that until this day, made no sense what-so-ever. The game resulted in a draw, and Arsenal lost the title on that very day.

The fans of the other teams made excuses about how Arsenal lacked the mental strength and how they are not champions material, seeing how the referees were against Arsenal, and the FA didn't bother with the Arsenal players getting injured like they weren't worthy of justice, unlike the Manchester United and Chelsea players.

Well, the truth was they were just blinded by their feelings for their team, and that they no longer focused on the truth.

Arsenal weren't getting injured because they were soft, it's because all the other teams started playing more physical with a team that tried to play a non-English game.

Anyone on the receiving end of Eduardo's tackle would've been in pieces as well, but the other teams are dumb enough to think that the Arsenal players are made of glass.

The only team that played total football in England was being tackled, bruised, and crushed physically by the opposition.

Arsene Wenger said it best, when a team like Bolton or Stoke state in an interview that they will play against Arsenal in a physical manner, then it's OK, it's no big deal. But when Rosicky or Sagna fight back, suddenly Arsenal are being too overly aggressive, and start receiving bookings for no apparent reason, it's like they aren't allowed or supposed to fight back.

Mental strength

At the moment of Ramsey's injury, it was almost exactly two years after the Eduardo incident.

At that moment in time, I imagined Arsenal starting to lose their way out of the title race, the same situation like two years ago, one of the most promising players injured, an away game against a team that plays a physical game, and a referee that sees most of the off-the-ball challenges as normal in the English game.

The faces of Nasri, Fabregas, and most notably Vermaelen said it all.

Shock, a loss of words, a complete loss of confidence, and a devastated Arsenal side.

But there was one thing that the Gunners didn't lose.

Heart.

Arsenal were out of sync for almost the remainder of the game, but the Arsenal players didn't back down, they showed no signs of hesitation should a tackle come their way, and they were determined to prove a point.

They are worthy of being champions.

It took until the 87th minute to create a genuine chance, but Eduardo misdirected the shot, and it looked like it was going to be yet another one of those seasons for the Gunners.

However, despite not getting the penalty they deserved when Faye tackled Ramsey, in the 89th minute Bendtner tried to pass the ball, but as luck would have it, the ball came off the hand of a Stoke City player to give Arsenal a crucial penalty.

Fabregas made no mistake, handled the pressure extremely well, and scored the penalty to reignite Arsenal's chances once again, and then dedicated the goal to Aaron Ramsey.

Arsenal then made no mistakes, and doubled their league over Stoke when Rosicky hammered in a shot that was saved by Sorensen, but Fabregas pounced on the rebound to pass it to Vermaelen, who then scored the goal that proves that Arsenal are, well and truly in the title race.

Despite what the haters say, and no matter how weak or un-original their attempts are, there is no one who can deny the mental strength that Arsenal possess at the moment.

Eleven points behind Chelsea in November, then closed the gap. Nine points behind Chelsea at the start of February, and then they closed the gap to just three points with ten games left, and Arsenal have the easiest fixtures remaining.

Arsenal need only consistency, and focus. That would guarantee the Gunners that at the end of this season, they are the EPL champions.

Get well soon Aaron.