Of all the weekends for family to come visit, of course it’s the one that Arsenal produce of a performance and win that leaves me craving the ability to write word after word after word about the emotions it made me — and hopefully all of you — feel. I wasn’t able to write anything significant on the match yesterday but I knew I had to try to smash out a little something today.
So, I have snuck away to quickly piece together something at the peril of a certain significant other discovering me with my nose in the keyboard.
Saturday’s match felt like a whirlwind of emotions. A whirlwind I have since thrown myself back into with glee many times over to relive time and time again.
It was a match script no one will have predicted, one that made life incredibly difficult on Arsenal, and one that Arsenal made terrible hard on themselves. Conceding from the opening kickoff, seeing Trossard exit premature with no Nketiah on the bench, bits of inefficiency in and around the box, conceding a second goal off Bournemouth’s first corner kick to go down 2-0 in the 57th minute with less than forty minutes to play. What presented Arsenal with one of their largest challenges to date, opened the door for an emotion-fueled comeback win to say 5 points clear of Manchester City.
The comeback kids’ fairytale was started by Partey, continued by Benny Blanco, and completed by Reiss Nelson unleashing one of the most gorgeous vollys I’ve seen with the last kick of the game. Coolness was dripping from this unlikely hero as he ended the day with an assist, the match-winner, and a Man of the Match award.
It was absolute bedlam in the grounds, embodied best by an Arteta figure sprinting about the touchline seemingly a little unsure of what to do with himself.
This team knows the journey they are on; the gravitas of the situation. It seems they are even keenly aware of the role that the emotional energy of it all is playing on their behalf. At least, Martin Ødegaard is.
One of my favorite, smaller moments from the match was Ødegaard imploring the fans to get loud as he took a corner, early in the second half.
The fact that the team returned the favor with a moment of magical madness, just makes it all sweeter. And that’s what it was. Magic.
As I sat to reflect on a game and moment I have now watched 2 to 3… hundred… thousand times. I’m left feeling that this individual day was a confusing one. It had so many comparisons to Aston Villa but, in the end, the dominant, attacking team won out. In that, there were real moments of electric magic. I found myself exhilarated, uncomfortable, and believing more than ever – all at once.
Why? Because sometimes when a season feels magical, is magical, you get magic.
What Arsenal are trying to achieve, and are actively achieving, almost demands it. The whole season has had this foundation of serious, football play and technical improvements with that touch of magic flair, and I think that’s becoming a sign of where we could be headed.
Teams that are trying to overcome the odds and do something few thought was possible, deliver those moments of magic. Teams that have won the title with a degrees of surprisehave season scapes dotted with moments of magic.
Ask Leicester. I am positive their fans recall vividly Robert Huth’s winner at Tottenham, Vardy’s scoring run, Vardy’s volley vs. Liverpool, Huth’s brace vs City, or Ulloa’s late winner over Norwich – not all that different than this late winner over a lower table opponent.
Even Manchester City — who have now won their fair share of sterile, dominant tiles — started it off with the magical “Aguerrooooooo” moment.
What Arsenal have begun to collect is their everlasting moments of magic that we will hope to remember for a lifetime:
- Gabriel’s 85th minute touch home to beat Fulham 2-1
- Taking the double over Spurs (just always magical)
- Nketiah’s later winner over Manchester United
- Jorginho’s later-winner rocket over Aston Villa
- Reiss Nelson’s wondergoal to put Arsenal over Bournemouth
The moments don’t always happen against the top teams, in fact they rarely do. Titles are won in the small moments. But when you see a side start to put together this collection, it’s impossible not to feel like it’s happening.
I can no longer count the amount of times I have muttered under my own breath, ‘it’s happening, it’s happening. We’re doing it”. I feel like I’m a walking Michael Scott moment.
Even the moments of magic that are outside of Arsenal’s control and falling their way — and no I’m not referring to yesterday’s 7-0 drubbing of United:
- City lose 1-2 to Brentford with a 90+8 Toney winner
- City draw to Everton late
- City draw to Nottingham Forest late
Look up! Can you not feel the stars aligning above you?
The best part is that moments of magic and luck are not the same thing. Arsenal have more than enough underlying statistic clout to backup their pacesetting point total after 26 matches.
Now, with 12 matches left, Arsenal must find a way to continue pushing. The impending return of Jesus stands to provide not only an uptick in talent that raises Arsenal’s ceilings but an emotional boon for both fans and players alike in the run in.
The only risk Arsenal face is the finite moments of magic a team can rely on in a season. For the second game in their last four, they have conceded two goals in a match far too easily. They will have to sort those out or risk their catalog of magical moments being viewed as unheeded warning signs.
But don’t worry, it’s magic, people! This whole run has been magical for us all.
It may not be that black and white, the road to a title is still long and filled with trials and tribulations that this young side will have to navigate for the first time. But every first-time winner navigates these paths for the first time as trailblazers.
For now, it’s impossible to not feel like this magical season foreshadows something great. And when a season is magical, you get Reiss-Nelson moments of magic.
Next up starts four matches in ten days, as they resume their Europa League competition versus Sporting Lisbon. Hopefully Vieira feels some extra fire for this matchup.
Keep feeling the magic, Gooners.
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