A painful result leaves title challenge in the balance.
Conceding last minute goals is a horrible experience and takes time to recover from, unfortunately there are only two more days before we take on the best football team in the world. In some ways though, this is the ideal fixture. There is very little expectation that we will progress to the semi-finals which will be a relief for the players considering the pressure that they have been under in recent league matches. A draw at Birmingham is a decent result considering that they have not lost at home since September but the manner and timing of the result was a real blow.
We struggled for much of the match but finally took control in the second half when Nasri and Arshavin were brought on. We were able to play the game in the opposition’s half and it was a matter of time before our pressure brought a goal. With ten minutes left Samir Nasri took responsibility and planted a shot in the far corner from twenty yards, it was a clinical finish but sadly he was unable to score the crucial second when one-on-one with Joe Hart in the final minute.
Birmingham went straight up the other end and somehow bundled in a ridiculous goal that made a nonsense of our attempts to carve out the perfect chance. Almunia was at fault but Sagna also failed to clear and it was a shambolic effort all around. A clean sheet at home to Barcelona would be extremely beneficial but that does not very likely at the moment. Some have urged Wenger to buy a new ‘keeper in the summer to solve our defensive problems but no names have been mentioned and therein lies the problem. Goalkeepers have a tough job in the modern game and it is impossible to find one in the mould of Seaman or Schmeichel now, mistakes do happen and Philips’ goal on Saturday was a fluke. We should have been capable of putting the game out of sight before any last minute jitters cost us.
Still, if the top two draw next Saturday we only need both of them to drop points in one more game and we can win the league, if we win all of our matches! It is an unlikely scenario but if the players can win the next two home matches we will have regained the momentum that was so cruelly taken in Birmingham.