Another FA Cup final!

What's this?! A female writing a blog about football?! Welcome to the new world, folks!

I am struggling to write this, I have been drinking a bit. My fingertips are slightly numb.

But 120 minutes and 4 cans of dark fruits later, Arsenal have yet again made it into an FA Cup final! 

Now I think it's safe to say that the first half was really, really slow. We were playing pretty terrible football and Reading were looking pretty dangerous. Sluggish from Arsenal in the first 45 minutes, this doesn't include the cracking chance by Ozil in the 16th minute nor does it include the fantastic goal in the 39th minute. What a beautiful pass from Ozil to Sanchez for Sanchez to then find the back of the net. And that composure by Sanchez... Just wow.

Overall, a slow tempo for the first half but we were one up so I was pretty happy.

The second half began and our BFG was there to try and score a goal after what was a cracking free kick from our Spaniard Santi Cazorla. Then in the 54th minute McCleary, that jammy b******, scored an equaliser. A massive cock up from Szczesny in all honesty. Now don't get me wrong, Szcz has had some cracking games for Arsenal but this goal was not an example of that.

I was genuinely gutted to see Per having to be subbed off in the 62nd minute but it was good for Gabriel, he had some good moments in this game. It was at this point I started to believe the linesman was having an absolute Western (super mare?) when it came to what was onside and what was offside. Not that I am complaining, it was Reading that got the brunt of it but I'm all for a fair game of football.

The tempo of the game slowed down again and I got to that point where I was desperate for a substitution, preferably somebody like Giroud or Walcott. It wasn't the going forward that was the problem though, it was the Reading defense. In the 68th minute, our Spaniard took another beautiful free kick that Gabriel headed towards the goal but Federici saved the day for Reading. 

Arsene Wenger made the substitution I was waiting for in the 71st minute by subbing Welbeck off for Giroud. Personally I would have kept Welbeck on and taken somebody like Ramsey off, who had been extremely quiet in the first 70+ minutes. Having Welbeck run on the wing and Giroud in the middle would have been a good pairing.

Then came another Gabriel chance from another cracking free kick but he fluffed that right up. I remember cringing slightly when McCleary clipped Ozil in the achilles. Anything to do with the achilles heel goes straight through me.

It came to the 75th minute and Arsenal had finally picked up the pace again. I could start seeing a good game of football with the team going forward again and Giroud finding Sanchez which lead to a chance but not a goal. In the 78th minute came a wonderful hoof over the goal by Mr Mesut Ozil. 

In the 82nd minute, Szczesny made an important save and hit it out for a corner. I think he could of caught that ball but oh well, it lead to a corner but fortunately not a goal for Reading. And we broke! Ramsey came close to scoring a goal but hit the woodwork and my groan echoed around the house. 

It was drawing nearer to full time and in the 86th minute, Reading had a really easy chance to score but fluffed it up. I was pretty pleased with that because I was on the verge of tears. Then came a chance for Gibbs and a chance for Giroud but Federici saved the day for Reading FC. 88-89th minute came a chance for Ramsey again but the goal was a no show.

And then we went to extra time. I hate extra time with a passion, no idea why but it's much more nerve wrecking than the actual 90 minutes of a football game. We looked pretty tired bearing in mind that we had not had the best 92 minutes of a football game. But it kicked off and we were on the ball before the game slowed down again, massively. Aaron Ramsey, our FA Cup winning goal scorer for 2014 had yet another chance but Federici, still having an absolutely cracking game, made a cracking save. 

This was when Federici fluffed it up, massively and Sanchez scored the winner for Arsenal FC! The tears came pouring out and the screams escaped! 

Then came the second half of extra time and man, did Reading push and push and push piling on the pressure for Arsenal but another goal for them was a no show. There came a few chances for Arsenal, one involving Giroud in the 21st minute but the score stayed as 2-1. We had a penalty cry in the 29th minute but it was just a free kick, which happened to be the last kick of the game. My heart was pounding, my head was spinning but the final whistle blew and WE DID IT!!!!


My man of the match had to be, probably to nobody's surprise, Alexis Sanchez! I was torn between him and Santi Cazorla but I went with my gut instinct. Besides, Sanchez did score our more than important winner! He is always there when you need him. If this award could go to more than one person then I would definitely say Santi Cazorla too.


The level of stress that I experienced in those 120 minutes was incredibly high! Football is definitely not any good for my health but it's a passion.

Can we please take a moment to congratulate Reading for the strong fight that they put up against us? I never expected such a positive performance from them. The team and the fans should be extremely proud of getting into the semi final and getting knocked out after performing like that. Williams, Robson-Kanu and Federici had absolutely cracking games if I do say so myself.

Today wasn't the nicest of wins but at the end of the day, a win is a win and we made it into yet another FA Cup final! Now to await our opponents and await the 30th May. To retain the FA Cup for another year would be absolutely incredible.

Until tomorrow x