Match Review: Hull City 2 Arsenal 3 (AET) - FA Cup Final - 17.05.14

How do you even begin to describe what happened on Saturday the 17th of May? How can I possibly find words adequate to convey what it means and how it felt? Saturday saw the end of nine years of agony for Arsenal fans. A period of time which has seen the club fall time and again, whether it be failed title challenges or the three cup finals we’ve been beaten in during that time. Upheaval, transition, unrest amongst all facets of the club with sickening backdrop of both rival fans and, just as vociferously, the media, baiting us as the drought went on. On Saturday that joke, that jibe that stung the pride of everyone at the club, was dragged kicking and screaming to the grave.

I’d first of all like to apologise for my tardiness in writing this review. After the game I was, of course, celebrating and then on Sunday I made my way to the Emirates to see a frankly extraordinary parade. All this was the culmination of an almost indescribable 120 mins at Wembley. Those fortunate enough to get tickets, I was not one, streamed down Wembley way, while those at home or at the Emirates waited for torturous hours to pass and the football to begin. There was pretty much only one position up for debate in the starting XI and that was in goal. Lukas Fabianski got the nod over Szczesny, who hadn’t played a single minute of the cup run, but had been rumoured to be set to start. The rest of the team picked itself, while on the bench, there was no room for Carl Jenkinson or Kim Kallstrom and Chamberain missed out with injury.

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Once the guff and preamble had taken place, it was Hull who got the final underway. Any notions of Hull being rolled over by the favourites were quickly forgotten, as the Tigers not only kept the ball well, but then proceeded to score the opening goal. With Arsenal barely having had the ball for more than ten seconds, Hull had won a corner. The ball was played out to Tom Huddlestone on the edge of the area, in what was clearly a pre-planned routine, but the former Spud scuffed his volley. The ball luckily, for Hull, bounced into the path of centre back and former Man Utd player James Chester. Wether or not he meant the flick he got on the ball is neither here nor there, all that matters is that it trickled agonisingly past Fabianski and nestled into the corner of the net, in front of the stunned Arsenal fans. 1-0 down after four minutes seemed pretty bad, but suddenly bad turned into horrifyingly appalling.

The game had barely got going again when Hull won a freekick on the right hand touchline. The ball was whipped towards the back post and bounced clear off a combination of Sagna and Meyler. It fell to Quinn, who twisted and turned and gained a vital yard on Ramsey, allowing him to play the ball to the back post from the other side. This time it was a Hull face/nose that met the ball and sent it bobbling onto the post with Fabianski scrambling after it. The ball deflected off the post and into the path of another centre back, Curtis Davis and he buried the ball into the net. Eight minutes gone. 2-0 to Hull City.

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Wembley was one half stunned silence, one half incredulous ecstasy. The big debate and controversy that came afterwards was about the free kick and how far from the spot of the foul the ball was moved. ITV’s commentators suggested that it was as much as eight yards further towards the goal. While it was clearly a ridiculous thing for the ref to miss, I don’t think it had much baring on the goal. For me the controversy was more that weren’t given a freekick for Meyler’s challenge on Sagna, which effectively took the right back out. But ultimately our defending was abysmal and our players froze. The Cup Final that it seemed almost impossible we could lose, was rapidly running away from a petrified Arsenal side, much to the horror of every Gooner inside Wembley and out.