Match Review: Wigan Athletic 1 Arsenal 1 (AFC win 4-2 on pens) - FA Cup - 12.04.14

After a torturous 120 minutes on a chilly afternoon at Wembley, Arsenal squeezed into the FA Cup final. On paper, despite Arsenal’s injury crisis, the Gunners shouldn’t have had a problem eliminating the Championship side. But on paper, Wigan had been undefeated in two years in the FA Cup, a run which has seen them oust a number of Premier League sides, including Man City twice. I think most Arsenal fans will agree that, despite the performance, we’re just glad to see our team in the final.

Arsenal started with pretty much the only team available to them, with Rosicky joining the huge raft of injured players. Monreal and Vermaelen continued in defence and Aaron Ramsey started in midfield. Perhaps the most surprising thing was Sanogo starting up front instead of Giroud. On the bench, youngsters Akpom and Eisfeld benefitted from injuries to senior players as they made the bench. 

We knew exactly how Wigan would play against us. A high line, compressing the play and closing down quickly and aggressively. It worked too, with the lack of pace or driving players in the team, we could barely get out of our own half. We had a few early chances through Chamberlain and Sanogo forced the first save of the game with a header towards the near post. Sagna then came very close, when a corner fell to him at the back post, but he blazed over when he really should have tested the keeper. I think we were the better team, but Wigan’s tactics were doing a job on us. Couple that with the fear factor of having never won at the new Wembley and we just weren’t playing with the intensity required to break through Wigan’s disciplined formation.

Wigan themselves had only one real opportunity of note in the first half; a shot from an acute angle that grazed the bar on its way through. For Arsenal, Podolski curled a freekick wide and then Sanogo had the best chance of the game so far. Chamberlain hooked the ball forward and into the path of the youngster raced away from the two defenders. However, his touch was too heavy and by the time he got his shot away, Carson had come out to smother the ball and it even deflected back off Sanogo to give Wigan a goal kick. It encapsulated the frustration of the first half perfectly.

The unthinkable happened 15 minutes into the second half. McMannaman muscled Monreal off the ball and left the Spaniard in a heap. The Wigan man then ran at the Arsenal defence and Mertesacker’s lunging tackle sent him sprawling. The referee played advantage for a moment, before eventually pointing to the spot. It was a stonewall penalty. There was a lengthy delay as Monreal was given treatment and then carried off on a stretcher, with Gibbs his replacement. Jordi Gomez showed no nerves though and side footed the spot kick just past Fabianski right hand. 1-0 to Wigan. The only positive being the amount of time left for us to find a response.

Olivier Giroud was brought on for Podolski, which brought loud boos from the Arsenal fans, who presumably wanted Sanogo withdrawn. However, the change seemed to have a tactical motive, with us switching to what seemed a 4-4-2. There did seem to be an increase in the ball being played long towards the two strikers. Having struggled for space and control in the midfield, it seemed the decision was made to bypass it altogether.

We came very close twice. First Sagna forced the ball towards goal from a corner, with the main touch seeming to come off a Wigan player’s arm, although there was no suggestion it was intentional. Agonisingly the ball cannoned off the post and Wigan scrambled it away. The second came when a ball was chipped in towards Sanogo. The striker glanced the ball on and into the path of Gibbs, who powered his header towards goal. Carson did brilliantly to get a hand to the ball and as it crept tantalisingly towards the corner, Crainey managed to hook clear. As poorly as we’d played up until that point, we didn’t deserve to be behind. Thankfully, to the relief of every Gooner in Wembley, we didn’t stay behind.

Another Arsenal corner was floated in and a couple of headers kept the ball alive, before Sanogo played the ball to Chamberlain. Chamberlain went to hit the ball on the half volleyed, but he scuffed the shot and it looped towards the far post. Fortunately for us, Mertesacker was waiting to atone for his earlier error and he did supremely well to divert the ball home with his head/chest. Cue pandemonium in the stands and a beautiful knee slide from Mertesacker. The doom was averted, the apocalypse staved off for a little while longer. However, it only brought us level and after a tense final few minutes, it brought extra time. Hardly ideal ahead of Tuesday’s trip to West Ham, but a million times better than not having anything at the end of 90 minutes.

We had the momentum in extra time and you sensed Wigan would have limited attacking intent. As expected, extra time was almost completely dominated by the Gunners, pressing forward and creating chances and half chances, but not converting. Sanogo couldn’t get on the end of a tantalising cross and had a couple of shots fly vaguely close and the closest we came was when Chamberlain found space and hammered a swerving shot onto the bar. It was an effort worthy of winning a game, but it was frustration again. As the end of extra time loomed, penalties went from a possibility to an inevitability.

I was convinced we’d lose on penalties. The only player I felt confident in scoring a penalty was Arteta. I ran through the likely penalty takers in my mind; Cazorla has only taken one for us and he missed it against Bradford, Giroud missed in the Carling Cup when he first joined, Vermaelen missed against Bradford, Sanogo had had a very mixed bag and is inexperienced, Kallstrom has barely played for six months. I don’t think my trepidation was unjustified, but it was heightened by the occasion and the emotional roller coaster we’d already been through. All we could do was hope for a show of mental strength…. (sorry)

I’m sure you’re all familiar with what happened. The shootout was won by two magnificent saves by Fabianski. The keeper seized on two penalties that weren’t terrible, but just weren’t quite accurate enough and that was the difference. Arteta, Kallstrom, Giroud and then finally Cazorla all stepped up; the first three stuck the ball in the corner of the corner of the net and Cazorla won it for us, watching for the keeper’s dive and then guiding it down the middle. Joyous relief for everyone involved with the club.

It shouldn’t have come to it, but at the end of the day, when it did, we pulled through. All that really matters is that we’re in the final, with a chance of finally getting rid of the nine years jibe that hangs over the club. I can only imagine how horrifically stomach churning the final will be, but for now we can take the positivity from this and hopefully recover our league campaign. We have six games left. We need six wins to make a relative success of the season. Anything less and it could all end in tears.

Teams

Wigan Athletic (5-4-1)
Carson, Crainey, Boyce, Ramis (Caldwell 86’), Bausejour (Y), Perch, McEachran (Collison 64’ (Y)), McArthur (Y), McManaman (Powell 68’), Gomez (Y), Fortune
Subs
Al-Habsi, Caldwell, Maloney, Espinoza, Powell, Barnett, Collison

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Fabianski, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Monreal (Gibbs 63’), Arteta, Ramsey (Kallstrom 113’), Podolski (Giroud 68’), Cazorla, Chamberlain, Sanogo
Subs
Szczesny, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Kallstrom, Giroud, Eisfeld, Akpom

Player Ratings

Fabianski - 8/10 - The hero, two penalty saves and rock solid all game
Sagna - 7/10 - Gave his all, but found himself stuck in his own half much of the game
Mertesacker - 7/10 - Villain to hero, the man is a natural leader, my player of the season
Vermaelen - 6/10 - Still makes me nervous and loves to get under a header
Monreal - 6/10 - Had a mixed game, didn’t get forward enough and went off injured
Arteta - 7/10 - Scored the important first penalty and gave everything for 120 mins
Ramsey - 7/10 - Makes Arsenal a lot better and a heroic effort to play 113 mins
Podolski - 6/10 - Peripheral, we just didn’t make any use of the flanks
Cazorla - 6/10 - Struck the winning penalty, but was anonymous in normal time
Chamberlain - 6/10 - Given MOTM, but his first touch was frustratingly poor
Sanogo - 5/10 - Had a tough day; in hindsight he should not have started
Subs
Gibbs - 7/10 - Really helped us get forward, caused a lot of problems once he was on
Giroud - 7/10 - You could see how much more he offered and he helped pin Wigan back
Kallstrom - 6/10 - Not really on long, but showed huge nerve to step up and score a penalty

Images courtesy of www.arsenal.com and www.thefa.com 

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