Arsenal 3-2 Hull (AET)

by Amar Azam

at Wembley Stadium

The long and agonising wait for silverware is over for Arsene Wenger. In some parts of west London, they may consider him a specialist in failure. Not here. Not now.

In a breathless finale to the season, one that saw brave Hull City come so close to recording a famous victory after taking an early two-goal lead, Arsenal clinched the FA Cup after coming from behind in a thrilling affair at Wembley. 

The 133rd final will live long in the memory, not least for Arsenal supporters. The nine-year wait for a trophy is over. 

“It was an important moment in the life of this team,” said Wenger, who indicated that he will sign a new contract. 

“To lose would have been a major setback but to win will be a good platform to build on.” 

The match began in the nightmare scenario as Arsenal supporters would have imagined it in the sleepless nights leading to this showdown. 

Ten minutes into the game, Hull had taken a shock two-goal lead, through James Chester and the superb Curtis Davies. Wenger’s men needed to recover, to pull themselves back into the match fast. 

The response came on 17 minutes when Santi Carzola put his side back into the game with a fine free-kick. Hull stood firm. Their manager Steve Bruce watched on from the sidelines plotting his side’s next move.

As the game wore on, the north Londoners began to increase the pressure. Aaron Ramsey, a crucial player for Arsenal, was full of energy throughout. He was deserving of his man-of-the-match award. 

The fight was won in the midfield, with the cruel final blow dealt by the Welshman. 

“It is a feeling of relief and happiness as we were under severe pressure to win and we didn’t start well of course. Hull started stronger and you could see we were hesitant,” added Wenger. 

“We demonstrated how to respond to being 2-0 down but we also demonstrated how not to start an FA Cup final. 

“It is a big moment to win and when it happens after a long time it sometimes comes with suffering so it was a great moment.” 

Hull did their supporters proud. Arsenal’s players needed to be relentless, to tear open Hull’s back-line, if they wanted to claim this trophy. They did so, on 71 minutes, when Laurent Koscielny put Arsenal back on level terms after spinning well in the penalty area before firing the ball low under goalkeeper Allan MacGregor. 

Against the might of Arsenal, one would have expected this Hull side to come unstuck. However, they continued to hold on despite the onslaught that they faced. They even had opportunities, on the rare occasions when they broke into Arsenal’s half of the pitch, to win. Substitute Sone Aluko nearly did so late on. 

However, as the game went into extra time, it seemed that there would only be one winner. Wenger even took the opportunity to bring on Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere. Hull’s players were running on empty. 

The winning goal came on 109 minutes when Hull’s resistance broke. Ramsey was the man to break their hearts when he finished off a move from close range, his low shot beating MacGregor. It was enough to win the match. 

Cue jubilant celebrations as Wenger, who now has won his fifth FA Cup, his eighth trophy overall, joined his players on the Wembley turf at the final whistle.