Was very excited about the match today. Me and Rehma have been talking about this day for a while now!
The Carling Cup final was held at the Millennium stadium and it was a London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea.
Ironic as it is, I am in Cardiff and yet I couldn't make my way into the stadium and watch the match live all because tickets were sold via clubs and not through the stadium box office, and so lay people like me who live on a tight budget and isn't a loyalty member of any clubs had to resort to watching it at the taff. But it wasn't bad at all (except for the bunch of chain-smoking uncles) because it was like a mini-Arsenal ground, with not a Chelsea fan in sight!
Arsenal started off the game very well, much to Chelsea's surprise and the former deserved to take the lead 20 mins into the match when Theo Walcott drove home a fantastic Michael Owen-resembling goal. The entire bar erupted into a roar with grown men hugging one another and I just sat there, trying to take in both the elation and the comic at the same time. I say comic because these were the same people who were cheering on Arsenal's young team with things like "'go on kids", and "show them how football should be played" etc. That really had me in stitches.
But the joy was short-lived, as Drogba pulled one back for Chelsea with a goal scored from a debatable offside position. While I understood the offside rule at the most basic level imaginable, I'd much rather abstain from commenting on this one. *aiyar, that means I don't know lah*
It was as if the young ones had ran out of steam, for Chelsea got the better of them with Drogba scoring another goal (in the 2nd half) to seal off victory for the Blues. Poor John Terry (who's been struggling with mobility and pace all throughout the match) had been knocked unconscious during one of the corner-defending moments by Diaby, who, in a flurry of lightning reflexes, gave Terry a blow to the head with his studded boots and er, yes, you get the picture. Rehma, Darsh and I jokingly said (while the paramedics were busy attending to Terry) that they should just send him to the Heath hospital and if they needed directions, we could help. Yeah, just a bunch of sour grapes talking.
Truth be told, I didn't feel bad (at all) that Arsenal lost, because the team had a lot to be proud of. But the match ended on such a bad note that at one point I felt so ashamed to be a supporter of the Gunners. Toure, captain of today's team, had a go at one of the Chelsea lads for pulling his shirt and holding him back while dribbling. Before we knew it, a brawl ensued. Fabregas (who I've been telling anyone who would listen as "my man") actually went in to calm players down but ended up having a heated argument with Frank Lampard who had to be led away by others. We didn't even know what was going on and the next thing we saw was that both the managers were already on the pitch trying to control their players and calm things down. Basically, it just went downhill from there and the ref eventually red-carded 3 players and gave Cesc and Frank a yellow each for not keeping their temper in check.
And these are senior players who should be showing a good example? How shameful!
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