The chances of Arsenal qualifying for the Champions League on the final day of the season bordered somewhere between remote and impossible…but that didn’t stop some of us dreaming.
Inside the ground, the vast majority of fans were under no illusion that our return to Europe’s top table was a fool’s hope but nobody wanted to give up until the proverbial Fat Lady had truly sung.
As it transpired, it took little more than 20 minutes for the lady to start warbling and, by half-time, she was in full voice but, thankfully, it didn’t much sour what was a sanguine sort of atmosphere in the Emirates – lamentation and celebration in equal parts.
In the cold light of day, the fans inside the ground had come to recognise that the squad – such as it is – moved mountains to finish where it did. That’s not to say there wasn’t bitter lamentation at the prize snatched from our grasp at the last, rather that there was at least recognition that our young side had given its all in the effort.
More than that, there was amid all the disappointment a recognition that better days were still to come from a squad not yet at its peak. Much has been learned in this campaign from a host of exceptional young talents and much has also been achieved.
As for the match itself, victory was something of a formality. Spent from their exertions of a week ago, Everton offered next to nothing for 90 minutes. They were tired, disorganised, lacking in threat and direction and, frankly, were only interested in wrapping up and heading home.
And while winning is never dull, it did make for a rather anti-climactic end to the season. Like kicking a puppy, there wasn’t too much joy to be had from putting five past a disinterested Everton side.
That said, it was great to go out in convincing style and good to see the likes of Odegaard and Martinelli add to their respective tallies for the season.
The lap of appreciation at the end of the match was a bit of an underwhelming affair, with many of the squad content to mix with their families in the middle of the pitch rather than engage with the fans who had remained behind. Despite that, the fans gave their young charges a rapturous send off and, with that, the curtain officially came down in the warm sunshine of N5 – with delight at the rise of our young stars and despair at their eventual fall.
Blog on You Gunners 