A win is a win

By: travis | March 12th, 2009

Winning in a penalty shootout is difficult enough as a fan. Imagine, if you could, the pressure that a player must feel, stepping up to the spot, setting the ball up, and hopefully beating the keeper. Throw in the thousands of Roma supporters, and it’s not something I’m envious of. That was the scene Wednesday, and despite a less than convincing performance during 120 minutes, Arsenal can pat themselves on the back for seven consecutive penalties sunk. Something I duly ignored, tending to focus on the negative, such as the horrible goal conceded thanks to a Gallas/Toure gaffe.

But I’m jumping ahead of myself. Despite Roma’s injury list, which seemed to grow each day ticking up to the finals, I know that they were going to Arsenal a real go of things. How could you expect anything but? A quality side, in front of the home fans were going to give it their all. And ten minutes in, Juan punished some poor defending, as Gallas and Toure looked at each other instead of clearing a cross that skipped across the ground. Juan had time to take a first touch, then blast it past Almunia. A miss there would have been shocking.

The goal needed to revitalize and put Roma under pressure never materialized. Roma defended well, putting pressure on the ball and limiting the space Arsenal had to work with. Along with that, there was no creative spark to boot, and no Arshavin to throw in their and pin our hopes on. A player like Cesc Fabregas would have done wonders out there yesterday — that’s for sure. So much for wishful thinking.

Almunia came up large on both sides of the half, making more than one crucial save to prevent Roma from taking the lead — something that perhaps seemed like it would mean curtains for Arsenal. The defense picked themselves up a bit as well, and no replays of the porous play on Juan’s goal was repeated.

Adding Walcott and Eduardo in the second half livened things up a bit, providing a bit more attacking bite. The goal was not to be found, and a dull extra time awaited. The inevitability of penalty kicks sunk in after the first half of extra time — a goal would have shocked the living daylights out of me. With the young talent on the roster comes the potential bane of inexperience, something that is a cause for concern when it comes to spot kicks. The kids proved that they were indeed alright, with Eduardo stepping up and missing the first penalty, to be followed by a successful seven in a row. And as Max Tonetto blazed his penalty over the bar and into the stands, it marked advancement to the quarterfinals for the Gunners. And surely I will take the luck factor involved with this, no question about that.

Overall thoughts? It’s a great feeling to still be alive in the Champions League still. I will doubt that this side has the depth to make a significant run at the actual trophy until they hoist it — call me a pessimist, but I’m just trying to be realistic. Our league form is most important at this time, and sitting just three points back going into a winnable game against Blackburn, it’s still where the focus needs to be. Any further advancement in the CL is just icing on the cake to me. Fingers crossed that we don’t get Barcelona or Man United in the next round, the two teams to fear the most.

Image courtesy of BBC Sport