Arsenal 1-0 Leeds Utd: A fairytale comeback

Va va Boom!

In my previous article, I wrote about how Henry’s comeback was like a fairytale for all gooners around the world. And if his signing was a fairytale, then yesterday night was a dream come true – where everyone witnessed the execution of the most romantic of scripts from the football Gods.

Leeds United, with their five thousand chirpy faithfuls visited the Emirates in the hope of maybe getting a replay or maybe even producing an upset in the third round of the FA cup. Their strategy was simple – to park the bus. There was always 11 men behind the ball with Arsenal trying hard with their neat passing to break them down. Out of form, Arshavin and Chamakh along with the teenager Chamberlain spearheaded the Arsenal attack, with the Russian, probably wasting the best chance in the first half. Ramsey collected a ball from midfield and passed it to Chamakh who did the same to Arshavin, however the Russian’s first time effort was well wide. There was not much action in the first half, with not many chances for either side.

The second half was more or less the same. Apart from a couple of Arteta and Chamberlain long attempts, and with Arshavin and Chamakh lacking form and confidence, the game was slowly settling for a draw. Arsene Wenger then popped up with two deciding changes – Theo Walcott for Chamberlain and Thierry Henry for Chamakh. The reception for the legendary striker was fantastic. The whole stadium roared and embraced the homecoming of Highbury’s favourite son. And then the inevitable happened.

With 12 minutes remaining, Henry scored his 12th goal against Leeds in 12 appearances wearing a number 12 Arsenal shirt in 2012. Song got the ball in the midfield and threaded a great pass through two Leeds defenders. Thierry Henry gets the ball near the left hand side of the penalty box. His immaculate first touch takes the weight of the ball, tilts his frame and slots the ball into the net. Is it 2012 or 2003? Everything about the goal was so him. The way he made a late diagonal run into the box, the way he opened up his body and then his trademark finishing. “You’ve still got it.” – echoed through the walls of the Emirates stadium. After running around the pitch with his arms outstretched past the juvelant supporters, Henry hugged Wenger, his ‘spiritual father’, near the bench. His teammates soon followed him.

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny raced the length of the pitch to join the delirium. His celebration was emotional, genuine and highlighted his love for the fans and the club itself.

Afterwards, Henry, the man of the match was visibly moved and spoke about how he scored for the first time, after being a player turned fan.

“When he got in this position, I thought, ‘That’s your angle.” Wenger said. “He doesn’t force the shot and still made it look easy. That was the Thierry Henry finish.” Henry himself said, “I never thought I was going to play for Arsenal again or score a winner.” “I love the club and I hope I can do more. I hope it won’t be the last one. The feeling I had when I scored was amazing.”

“It was like a dream when he scored, it was the story you would tell a kid. It is not often like that in our game. He has seen it all, he has done it all, we knew if we could find him he would be dangerous.”, said Wenger whose happiness at the press conference.

And with the win the Gunners progress to the fourth round of the FA cup and will face a Villa side at the Emirates.