WBA 2 – 3 Arsenal: Arsenal complete The Great Escape
273 comments May 14th, 2012
Arsenal players hold Pat Rice aloft after the final whistle
West Brom 2 – 3 Arsenal
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
Arsenal were not able to raise a trophy aloft at the end of this season. We were, however, allowed to lift up Pat Rice, and give him the send-off he truly deserves. A traumatic season ended on a high as Arsenal secured third place with this win at the Hawthorns. You might not get any baubles for qualifying for the Champions League, but one need only look at our post-match celebrations to realise its significance.
This has, in my humble opinion, been the most exciting season in the history of the rebranded Premier League, and it had a final day to match. Events in Manchester will rightly take the headlines, but for any Arsenal fan the only thing that mattered was our game against West Brom. Arsene gambled a little in his team selection, dropping Gibbs and Ramsey for Santos and Coquelin, and playing the inexperienced Jenkinson at right-back. The result would suggest that this brave move paid off.
We certainly owe a lot to West Brom’s stand-in goalkeeper, Marton Fulop. Early on, his dallying over a back-pass allowed Yossi Benayoun to steal in and grant us a lead that should have settled the nerves. Instead, as against Norwich, his goal was a cue for complacency to creep in, and we ended up going behind. First Shane Long was wrongly ruled onside and fired past a hesitant Szczesny, before poor defending allowed Graham Dorrans to reach his own flick-on and fire home from the edge of the box.
Fortunately, we got a goal back before half time. Without that I’m not sure we would have had the bottle to turn it around. Andre Santos, playing in the “false three†position (credit to Barney Ronay), strode forward and thumped a 25-yard shot that took a slight deflection before beating Fulop at his near post. Again, the Hungarian could have done better.
At half-time Spurs led Fulham comfortably. Arsenal knew that only a win would be good enough. I said then I felt that if we could cut out our defensive errors, we’d have enough to win the game, and so it proved. Again we owed a debt to Fulop, who flapped horribly at a corner, allowing Laurent Koscielny to stab home. Interestingly, Fulop spent three seasons on the books of one Tottenham Hotspur, in which time he failed to muster a single competitive appearance. Judging by yesterday’s evidence, he’s still feeling a little sore about that.
This rolercoaster game was by now horribly reminiscent of that fateful 3-3 with Norwich, and I was dreading a heartbreaking late equaliser. That we didn’t see one is due largely to Kieran Gibbs, who produced this stunning tackle in stoppage time.
There were other heroes on the day. Wojciech Szczesny recovered from his positional error on the first West Brom goal to put in a commanding display, especially when you consider that Arsene Wenger revealed he has been playing with a bad shoulder injury. It was fitting that Koscielny, our best player over the season bar Van Persie, should score the vital goal. As for Yossi Benayoun, what can I say? His contribution has been enormous, and his role in final day folklore will make him a firm favourite among Arsenal fans for years to come. It seems unlikely Arsene will give him a permanent deal – Yossi himself has intimated he’d like to move somewhere he’ll play more regularly – but I’d certainly consider trying to convince him to stay. Whenever he’s been called upon, he’s shown more commitment than many players on more lucrative, long-term deals. The guy is a real pro, and whoever gets him next season will be lucky to have him.
At the full-time whistle, the relief was palpable. To have finished third in a season which began with four defeats from seven feels like we have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Disaster threatened to engulf us on so many occasions this season, and yet we’ve actually managed to improve upon our league placing from last year. And, crucially, we’ve edged above Tottenham. Not so chatty now, Mr. Van der Vaart.
Personally, I’d like to extend my congratulations to Arsene Wenger. If another manager had arrived in September and shepherded us to this position, he’d be hailed as a messiah. Instead, I’ll doff my cap to an ordinary human who is an extraordinary football manager.
There are other challenges ahead, starting with resolving the future of Robin van Persie. After that we have the summer transfer window, next season’s Premier League, and (thankfully) a Champions League campaign to worry about. I hope you’ll excuse me if I forget all that for now, and enjoy the moment. My glass is half-full. In fact, it’s more than that. It’s Fulop.
