Two Clean Sheets in a Row

It was another away win, this time at Swansea's Liberty Stadium. The score was a similar 2-0 to the one in Munich on Thursday morning.

However, unlike at the final whistle against Bayern on that cold, cold morning; this time it was smile all around when the referee blew his musical instrument  (at least that's how it sounded to me) this time around.

Another clean sheet for Lukasz Fabianski and I really hope he will continue keeping more clean sheets for us for the rest of the season. It was a smart move by Arsene Wenger and perhaps a very important thing to do to ensure Wos Szczesny will become a great goalkeeper in the future.

The goals came from two unexpected sources. Nacho Monreal got his name on the scoresheet for the first time in an Arsenal shirt with fifteen minutes to go from a scramble in front of the Swans' goal.

Then Gervinho, whose miss against Blackburn could be the main reason for us to be knocked out from the FA Cup was presented with a similar chance. Missing the chance could spark another comeback by the home side.

However, to the relief of all Gooners, he tucked away the ball under the despairing dive of Michel Vorm to kill off any remaining hope of the home fans in seeing their team saving at least a point from this match.

In a way, the result could be seen as a revenge of sort for the reverse scoreline they imposed on us at The Emirates back in December. Though there were huge amount satisfaction when we eliminated them in the third round of the FA Cup soon after that.

The win certainly put us on the right track to get back into the lucrative Champions' League spot as we trail London rivals Chelsea and Sp*ds by two and four points respectively.

Both are facing London rivals in their fixture this weekend. Chelsea are hosting West Ham United while Sp*ds welcome Fulham at The Lane. Every Gooner will definitely be praying for wins for The Hammers and also The Cottagers.

Not having Jack Wilshere was seen as a potential disaster for Arsenal but we managed to came through those matches with positive vibes. Thus the international break is most welcomed and hopefully Arsene will have a full squad at his disposal for the final push beginning on 30 March against Reading at home.


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Another Glorious Exit

After the 2-1 North London derby defeat at The Lane last Sunday, nobody in the right mind would predict Arsenal will do the impossible at The Allianz Arena against Bundesliga leaders, Bayern Munich.

Trailing 3-1 from the dismal performance in the first leg at The Emirates, we needed to win by three goals and not conceding any, a tall order for a side that has not kept a clean sheet in the last four matches.

Without the injured Jack Wilshere the tie looked lost. When Arsene Wenger announced that he will start with Lukasz Fabianski in goal and dropping his captain, Thomas Vermaelen to the bench I thought it was to give the returning Pole some match practice.

But when Olivier Giroud finished off a good counter-attack with the ball in the roof of the net, I dared to hope a little higher. However, we seemed to lost the momentum as the home side dominated proceeding for quite some time with Arjen Robben tormenting the Arsenal defence time and time again.

However, Fabianski stood tall in his first appearance for The Gunners in 2013  and kept us in the match with a series of fine saves.

I did not dare to hope anymore as time ticked away in Bayern's favour. However five minutes from the end Laurent Koscielny pushed me to dream of a memorable comeback with a looping header that crept past Manuel Neuer.

The aggregate was tied at 3-3 but we still losing on away goals rule. Just one more goal and we would be through to the last eight. However, just like against AC Milan last season; the one more goal did not come. We paid the price for the horrible display at home in the first leg.

Still, a win is still a win and winning at Bayern Munich will lift the morale of the boys and could be the launching pad they need to get into the Champions' League spot.


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