'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Arsenal have experienced a roller-coaster of a ride in the past decade, from staying unbeaten for 49 games on the trot to not winning silverware for 8 years. The fans, obviously, have endured this tumultuous journey with alarmingly persistent belief of a better tomorrow.
The last decade has put Gooners through immense heartbreak at multiple occasions, lifting their hopes for a fleeting moment and then sadistically dropping them in to fourth place. Let’s take a look at 4 of the lowest lows Arsenal have faced in the last 10 years.
4.) 8-2 to be a Gooner
Being Arsenal’s worst defeat since 1896, it says a lot about the result. Wenger’s side in 2012 was riddled with holes due to injuries and suspensions, and United took the bull by the horns. They were up by three by the 40-minute mark, only for Walcott to pull one back just before the break.
United kept going, never lifting the foot off the pedal, and scored three more before Robin van Persie added the second. By the end of it, Wayne Rooney had managed a hat-trick, Carl Jenkinson had gotten himself sent off and Arsenal were left reeling, only three games in to the season. Questions were raised about the inactivity in the transfer market, and Wenger had no answers for once. And we are pretty sure he ‘saw that’.
3.) One short of Fifty
Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a penatly
Arsenal were on course to achieve the unimaginable; 50 games unbeaten in the league, having gone an entire season without losing a single match. From May 2003 to October 2004, Arsenal were a force, and were dubbed the Invincibles. They broke the previous record of 42 games unbeaten, held by Nottingham Forrest, set in 1978.
Arsenal won a total of 36 games and drew 13 on their way, scoring a total of 112 goals, averaging 2.2 goals a game.
Along came Manchester United, trailing 11 points behind the league leaders, hoping to rejuvenate their campaign with a much needed 3 points. In a match shrouded in controversy, a penalty converted by the then United marksman Ruud van Nistelrooy and a late Wayne Rooney goal secured a victory for the Red Devils.
What followed has since been euphemized as the ‘battle of the buffet’. A slice of pizza hit Sir Alex Ferguson square in the face and took whatever was left of Arsenal’s self-respect.
2.) The City of Birmingham
A dejected Jack Wilshere at the end of the Carling Cup final between Arsenal and Birmingham
It was the closest Arsenal came to using the new trophy cabinet at the Emirates. The Gunners were left twiddling their thumbs after a side battling relegation pipped them in the closing minutes of the 2011 Carling Cup final. Alex McLeish’s Birmingham City claimed their first trophy since 1963 when they won the same trophy.
Arsenal were clearly favorites going in, but their opponents did what most romanticized underdogs do, and pulled an upset. City endured the onslaught and never let the Gunners get in to the groove. Arsenal were even pinned back for bits, and Birmingham were flooded with courage as opposed to hope.
Nikola Zigic drew first blood with an unconvincing header, before Robin van Persie saved face for Arsenal before the half. In the dying moments, a miscommunication between goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and defender Laurent Koscielny cost Arsenal everything they had hoped for.
Substitute Obafemi Martins pounced on a loose ball as Koscielny and his keeper could only look on. Birmingham were eventually relegated, becoming the first team ever to win the Carling Cup and get relegated. Nothing short of legendary, but only one side will want to remember this one.
1.) Heartbreak at the Grandest of Stages
Red Card to Jens Lehmann
Arsenal’s road to the 2006 Champions League final consisted of some of the biggest scalps in football, overpowering Real Madrid, Juventus and Villareal to meet might Barcelona in the final at Stade de France, Paris.
Thierry Henry had started the fixture in rampage mode, and could have scored twice in the first three minutes. The mercurial Jens Lehmann got himself sent off after 18 minutes and Arsenal were left with 10 men.
Robert Pires made way for Almunia, and things were looking down when Sol Campbell rose high and headed a blinder past Victor Valdes. Arsenal were suddenly leading and Gooners were hoping to park a bus right around half time. But Eto’o fired home 14 minutes from time, before Juliano Belletti put one in at the near post to end any speculation of extra time. Arsenal could never recover, and the tears that followed spoke of the pain that everyone endured. The story of ‘so close yet so far’ had another chapter to recount.
