Two penalties and my season collapsed. That's what I thought as I looked on from my new seat at The Emirates on the first day of the season. There was a lack of optimism going into the match. Then Giroud scored the first goal of the season and the crowd got behind the team.
Down went Agbonlahor and the referee, after initially playing advantage, pointed to the spot. Aston Villa's redeemer last season, Christian Benteke, steps up and sees his inital effort saved before pouncing on the rebound to equal the score.
Another penalty follows shortly after the hour mark. This time, Benteke doesn't need a rebound and slots the ball past Sczezsny and into the back of the net. Antonio Luna's first goal five minutes from time seals the victory for Villa.
All the anger, frustration and disappointment of eight seasons without a trophy and just the one signing begin to pour out after the final whistle. Chants of 'Spend some f***ing money' and 'Wenger Out' echo around the stadium. The players walked, shoulders hunched, back down the tunnel with fans screaming abuse from all four sides. This was the lowest point I had ever felt as an Arsenal fan and it wasn't because I'd just paid a little over £1,100 for my season ticket.
Then several incidents occurred. A Champions League away match provided an early welcome relief from the pace of the Premier League. A routine three-nil win over Fenerbahce caused ripples within the anti-Wenger support. This was swiftly followed by a 3-1 away win at Craven Cottage. After completing the job against Fenerbahce with a 2-0 home win, it was time for the big one.
The North London Derby is the most anticipated football match in the calendar. As several Arsenal fans said, "This is it." This is the culmination of months of nothingness. A few days earlier we had announced the re-signing of Mathieu Flamini, our former midfield general who had deputised at left-back during our 1000+ minutes of not conceding a Champions League goal while Ashley Cole and Keiran Gibbs were out with suspiciously similar injuries. It was a token signing, as we felt at the time. He didn't have a club and we felt sorry for him. Similar to Sol Campbell and Jens Lehmann over the last few years. Tottenham, on the other hand, had spent during the summer. In anticipation of selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, Andre Villas-Boas and Daniel Levy had been out hand-picking some of the best players from Europe to create a serious team that could mount a title challenge.
Arsenal went on to win 1-0. Faith was restored. Suddenly the team looked amazing. Everyone got behind the players. Defensively we looked organised and offensively we looked capable of tearing any team apart. Then came the icing on the cake.
Not content with just beating our big-spending neighbours, Arsene Wnger then took advantage of the sale of their biggest asset by smashing Arsenal's transfer record and bringing in Mesu Ozil from Real Madrid. The news of this deal began filtering through just for the Tottenham game and then hit home shortly afterwards. With the euphoria of the win still sitting in the minds of fans everywhere, this raid of Europe's best playmaker was greeted with incredulity around the world.
It took eleven minutes for Ozil to make his mark on the Premier League. As a hopeful long ball was punted upfield, Ozil showed what he can do with an amazing touch before passing to set up Giroud for the opening goal of the game against Sunderland. The touch gave him so much time, he could have texted Giroud where he was going to put the ball.
Wins agains Marseille and Napoli in this season's Champions League's 'Group of Death' followed and now you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who wants Wenger out, but then that's the fickle nature of football. That and the fact that Thierry Henry is still hanging out at London Colney and around the Emirates with former teammate Robert Pires just shows what a community Arsene has developed over the years.
When you consider that United, Chelsea and Man City have all started the season with new managers and they're struggling (actually, Chelsea aren't really but I still enjoy laughing at them) then you can see the argument for continuity standing out as the number one.
Also, Tottenham must be heading for bankruptcy if they don't make it to the Champions League within the next few seasons, which makes me laugh. Hard.
Arsenal came into this international break at the top of the league, albeit on goals scored, but with two more winnable games against Norwich and Crystal Palace coming up, the optimism will carry on for a while yet. November will be the real test when Arsenal play both Liverpool and Manchester United in the fist half of the month and Borussia Dortmund away sandwiched in the middle. Three tough games.
This year there is real optimism, and now I don't regret buying my season ticket. I'm just annoyed it has taken this long. Until next time!
