This Is Where We Want to Be

Just under two weeks ago, I was once again staring intently at a mute glowing rectangle, this time cradled in my palm, later propped up against a pillow, instead of its more popular, larger cousin mounted on a wall, but temporary change of location calls for improvisation. The only other light was that of the full moon filtering in through gauzy curtains. It made stripey patterns against the duvet as I tossed this way, then that, and during lulls, full disclosure, even nodded off, briefly, courtesy of the long day and late hour. Harder than staying awake was keeping my reactions inaudible. Then again, I’d had a lot of practice over two decades of plopping my heart in the hands of a club oceans away.

This skill would be sorely tested—first a few minutes before half-time when a scrumptious defense-splitting pass by Captain Martin found Leandro Trossard, all deft touches and into the net; and later, especially later, when this seemingly nerveless bunch of players emerged triumphant through a penalty shootout, eruptions of joy, relief, and euphoric tears across the Ems and around the world.

We knew the statistics going in: seven successive UCL Round of 16 exits for Arsenal (with Arteta himself in the squad for five), zero wins in five Europa League knockout ties at the Emirates for Manager Mikel, fourteen years since the club had qualified for the quarterfinals of the Champions League. But we looked at Porto as a good omen amidst all the anxiety. They were our opponents the last time we’d gone through to the next stage in 2010 and we’d. overcome a 2-1 first-leg loss to beat them 5-0 at home.

It is particularly significant that we would end up winning on penalties this time, when you think back to a year ago. On March 16, 2023, we were knocked out of the Europa League by Sporting Lisbon, losing 3-5 on penalties at home, following a stellar showing by their goalkeeper Antonio Adán. I’ve been a fan long enough to sense the invisible tremors, and the loss,…

Source link : https://www.footballparadise.com/arsenal-1-1-porto-4-2-pens-this-is-where-we-want-to-be/

Author : Anushree Nande

Publish date : 2024-03-28 14:00:00

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