This season Arsenal have been absolutely brilliant, facing various different challenges and overcoming them one way or another, barring a few mishaps here and there. Therefore, it would be hard to pick Arsenal’s three best games this season, but I thought I would give it a try.
3. Fenerbahce 0-3 Arsenal
This was a difficult game in which all of the pressure was on Arsenal. The Gunners had just been defeated at home on the opening day by Aston Villa and many pundits and esteemed journalists were already writing them off, not to mention their own fans losing heart. Therefore, it was anticipated that this first leg of the UEFA Champions League final qualifying round would be a quintessential game for their season. Arsenal were headed to Turkey, a land known to house the most fanatical of fans, to face Fenerbahce, a team known for their solidity and big-name players such as Dirk Kuyt, Moussa Sow and Emre.
However, Arsenal responded very well to the pressure and goals from Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud were enough to silence the critics for now.
2. Borussia Dortmund vs. Arsenal 0-1:
While most people would say that this game was the best of Arsenal’s season, I believe that it does have good reason to be the best, but there is one game that is better. However, this does not detract from the fact that Arsenal were absolutely brilliant in this game. Coming up against the formidable Dortmund at the terrifying Westfalenstadion, Arsenal were written off prematurely and as soon as they were able to take the lead thanks to a header from Aaron Ramsey, they gave their all to make sure they did not concede. It was a brilliant defensive display.
1. Arsenal vs. Southampton 2-0:
Shocked? Don’t be. I believe that this is the best Arsenal game of the season simply because Arséne Wenger’s men were not able to play well at all against a surprisingly solid team and yet they were able to capitalise on the mistakes of the opponents to score twice and secure the three points while never looking threatened in defence. It was simply the performance of champions.
Please feel free to let me know how you feel via the comments or Twitter.
Till next time,
Omar Bahgat