Canaries upset Arsenal in 6 Goal Thriller

The FA Cup final was not the only game on Saturday May 5. Just as exciting and more important for fellow Arsenal fans was the Emirates fixture against Norwich, which ended in a spectacular draw.

Being an Arsenal fan, yet with a keen Norwich City fan of a boyfriend, I felt something of an allegiance to both clubs. There was no question about it when it came to this match, however. Arsenal needed a win!

70 seconds in to the match, and I felt confident that this would be the case. A brilliant strike from Yossi Benayoun put the Gunners in front, and it seemed like this game would be only too easy.

Yet, incredibly, it was Paul Lambert’s Norwich who outclassed, out-passed, out-fought and out-thought their rivals. Two mistakes from the Arsenal defence put Norwich 2-1 ahead before the half hour.
 

Norwich regained control of the game and drew level after 12 minutes as Wes Hoolahan’s tame shot went straight to Szczesny, only to be pushed into the net. There was a second’s delay before both the Norwich and Arsenal fans realised the shot was in.

Fifteen minutes later it was no surprise when “We f*****g love Grant Holt”’s shot came off the back-tracking Kieran Gibbs and looped over the Polish keeper after 27 minutes.
 

In a moment of dramatic confusion, Bacary Sagna was then carried off with a broken leg. From where we sat it looks as though he went down untouched, but reports after the match accuse Norwich City’s Bradley Johnson of ‘deliberately stepping’ on his leg.
 

Five minutes before the break, sub Francis Coquelin seemed to bring down Hoolahan in the box. The call for a penalty was ignored by referee Anthony Taylor, as was another clear foul moments later. Laurent Koscielny obviously pulled down Russell Martin; afterwards Lambert raged: “When I see some decisions it can drive you mad”.
 

Van Persie missed several chances after the restart as Arsenal found a new passion for the game. The Footballer of the Year banged goals 36 and 37 of the season into the net to make it 3-2 to the Gunners, to City chants of “You may have Van Persie, but we’d rather have Grant Holt”.
 

The game seemed safe for Arsenal, but again the Canaries surprised the fans at the Emirates. Sub Steve Morison struck a brilliant leveler with five minutes left to make the final score 3-3.

Wenger stated: “We gave them a third goal in a situation that was absolutely unbelievable. For the third goal it was five or six mistakes in the same goal.”
 

Wenger could point to a poor decision on the part of the referee to award a penalty in stoppage time, as Kyle Naughton’s blatant push on Van Persie was ignored. It cannot be denied, however, that Norwich City’s constant defence and gutsy performance was deserving of a point.

As much as I wanted an Arsenal win, it was satisfying to see our local club survive a season in the Premiership, and playing good football!

Norwich 3 – 3 Arsenal