barcelona 2, arsenal 1
Following the recently concluded Champions League Final between Arsenal and Barcelona, the Armchair Critic, that is moi, shall have his say.
Ladies and Gentlemen, footballing justice has been served. And boy, does it taste sweet. Up till the 76th minute, it had looked like even the best club in Europe was no match against some utterly incompetent refereeing. The referee had made two dodgy calls that almost cost Barca the game.
Firstly, he disallowed a perfectly legitimate Barca goal in the 18th minute by blowing for a free kick too early instead of playing the advantage. (He was right to send the keeper off though.) Then in the 37th minute, he compounded his errors by awarding Arsenal a free kick at the right edge of the penalty box when it was obvious their defender has committed a blatant dive. Arsenal scored from the resulting free kick.
What a travesty. As the commentator said, the referee wasn’t fit to grace a game of such magnitude.
From then on, the entertainment value dropped as Arsenal was content to defend and run the clock down as much as they could, as could be seen by Barca’s over 60% possession of the ball. Justice finally came in the 76th minute when Eto’o equalized. And within 5 minutes, Barca took the lead through their substitute right-back who’s never scored for the club previously, giving the commentators the chance to opine one of their favourite lines: “What a fantastic time to score your first goal for the club!”
After falling behind, Arsenal never put up a fight at all with their 10 men. And in the end, Barca rightfully triumphed for only the second time in this competition. Somewhat ironically, Arsenal are now complaining about the referee, saying the best team didn’t win. Sorry mate, valiant defending doesn’t make you the better team.
Darn, if I had successfully balloted for tickets a few months back, I’d be there celebrating with the Barca fans. Viva Barca!!
That will be all for now.
Ladies and Gentlemen, footballing justice has been served. And boy, does it taste sweet. Up till the 76th minute, it had looked like even the best club in Europe was no match against some utterly incompetent refereeing. The referee had made two dodgy calls that almost cost Barca the game.
Firstly, he disallowed a perfectly legitimate Barca goal in the 18th minute by blowing for a free kick too early instead of playing the advantage. (He was right to send the keeper off though.) Then in the 37th minute, he compounded his errors by awarding Arsenal a free kick at the right edge of the penalty box when it was obvious their defender has committed a blatant dive. Arsenal scored from the resulting free kick.
What a travesty. As the commentator said, the referee wasn’t fit to grace a game of such magnitude.
From then on, the entertainment value dropped as Arsenal was content to defend and run the clock down as much as they could, as could be seen by Barca’s over 60% possession of the ball. Justice finally came in the 76th minute when Eto’o equalized. And within 5 minutes, Barca took the lead through their substitute right-back who’s never scored for the club previously, giving the commentators the chance to opine one of their favourite lines: “What a fantastic time to score your first goal for the club!”
After falling behind, Arsenal never put up a fight at all with their 10 men. And in the end, Barca rightfully triumphed for only the second time in this competition. Somewhat ironically, Arsenal are now complaining about the referee, saying the best team didn’t win. Sorry mate, valiant defending doesn’t make you the better team.
Darn, if I had successfully balloted for tickets a few months back, I’d be there celebrating with the Barca fans. Viva Barca!!
That will be all for now.
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