Top 5 moments in 2011: Arsenal

2011 was an eventful year for Arsenal and it’s fans and though no trophies were won, our team always gives us moments worth remembering and this article will look at the top 5 Arsenal moments in 2011.

5. Jack Wilshere after the 2011 Carling Cup final

Emmanuel Eboue consoling Jack Wilshere after the 2-1 loss to Birmingham.

Though the Carling Cup final was a complete disaster and ruined the most important part of 2011 for Arsenal, a moment after the loss was very important – Jack Wilshere’s reaction. The 19 year old England starlet was in tears and needed to be consoled by many members of the Arsenal team. Why is this important? This loss will only make Jack Wilshere stronger and hungrier to win more things with Arsenal, and his reaction towards losing, especially in the manner in which Arsenal lost, showed his passion and commitment towards the Arsenal cause.

4. Szczesny’s penalty save against Udinese

Szczesny saves Di Natale's crucial penalty kick.

While the moment Szczesny cemented his place in the Arsenal 1st team is very worthy, I feel his penalty save vs Udinese was equally worthy. Arsenal had conceded a penalty with them leading Udinese on aggregate 2-1 in the crucial UEFA Champions League qualifier – if Di Natale scored, it would have been level and with the home crowd in Italy, Udinese may have spurred on to score one more and reach the Champions League group stages. However, Szczesny saved Di Natale’s almost unsaveable penalty, tipping it over the bar much to the Arsenal fans’ delight. Even Arsenal goalkeeping legend, David Seaman couldn’t hold his excitement on Twitter. The save ultimately acted as a catalyst for Arsenal to kill the game off which they did, through Walcott. Arsenal were thus through to the group stages of the Champions League for the 14th season in a row and didn’t miss out on any potential £25 million revenue earned from the Champions League, hence the save was dubbed as the £25 million save.

3. Arsenal defeating Manchester United 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Aaron Ramsey scores the winner against Manchester United.

Arsenal were on top of the world in early 2011, playing some sumptuous football, looking like a team which could beat anyone (as proven by Barcelona‘s 2-1 loss) and looking like Manchester United‘s only title threat – the problem was, there was no Manchester United game till May. Then disaster occurred, losing in the Carling Cup final completely derailed Arsenal’s season making them lose ground in the title race. Manchester United were soon 9 points ahead of Arsenal and had a trip to the Emirates Stadium – Arsenal won. It was significant for many reasons; Aaron Ramsey made his first start since his horrific leg break and scored the winner. Along with this, Arsenal proved that they had it in them to be worthy of title challengers. Lastly, Arsenal showed that they may have been 6 points behind Manchester United, but certainly not 6 points worse with a commanding performance. The win was a great treat for Arsenal fans after a horrible period post the Carling Cup final defeat.

2. Arsenal defeating Chelsea 5-3 at Stamford Bridge

Robin Van Persie celebrates as Chelsea stutter.

Arsenal had a horrible start to the 2011/2012 season, but after their deadline day signings, they were looking like a team again and slowly started grinding out results, moving up the table in the process. They were soon up against a Chelsea side who had just come off a 1-0 defeat to QPR, but were favorites nonetheless. Lampard put the Blues in front, until Van Persie equalized – Terry put Chelsea ahead just before half-time until Andre Santos equalized in the 2nd half – Theo Walcott then surprisingly put Arsenal ahead and Arsenal looked to be winning their first away win of the season until Juan Mata scored a pile-driver to make it 3-3. Everyone thought Arsenal were doomed until Terry slipped receiving a pass from Malouda and Van Persie made it 4-3 to Arsenal. Chelsea were pushing for a late equalizer but Arsenal quickly hit them on the break and Van Persie scored his hat-trick making the final score 5-3. It was a massive win and one of the most entertaining games I had ever seen in my life – Arsenal’s season had officially kick started.

1. Arsenal defeating the eventual Champions League winners, Barcelona.

Van Persie celebrates his equalizer.

Even though Arsenal were riding high in February 2011, no one gave them a chance against Barcelona and it certainly looked that way when David Villa scored first in the Champions League round of 16 first leg at the Emirates Stadium. However, Arsenal had other plans as Van Persie equalized with a goal from an almost impossible angle while Arsenal later hit Barcelona on the counter-attack for Arshavin to score the winner! It was probably one of the most entertaining matches ever as two of the best free-flowing, attacking sides in the world clashed horns and after Arshavin’s goal, the whole atmosphere of the Emirates Stadium was something to behold. Even though Arsenal crashed out in the next leg, we were offered some consolation as Arsenal were the only team in Europe to have defeat the European champions in Barcelona. Truly deserving of Arsenal’s best moment in 2011.