The atmosphere at Wembley for the 134th F.A Cup Final should be looked upon as amazing. Yet the contrast in the two teams, Aston Villa and Arsenal on the sunny warm Saturday evening on the 30th May 2015 is perhaps more tangible and brutal than in recent memory. The Cup hasn’t been fought over in gladiatorial style between the Capital and arguably the second city of England since 2000 and the difference between the two cities in terms of football glory has never been more stark.
An omen perhaps of the day ahead, traditional and the change in fortunes as well as kit as Aston Villa play in their famous claret and blue and Arsenal will attack Wembley in their novel away colours of yellow and blue.
The fans on both sides were expecting a win. For Aston Villa, this could be the first F.A. Cup for 58 years. A whole generation of fans who have gathered at the growing dust provided by the owners and custodians of the club have come to expect nothing more in recent times than the escape from relegation, for a club with the history of Aston Villa this is nothing more than criminal. That difference is marked out in the way that the clubs have treated their managers, for in long serving Arsenal institution instead of an F.A. Cup win to deflect the stagnant waters of obscurity, this is a chance for the French man to equal history by matching the glory felt by former Villa manager George Ramsey with six outright wins in the famous old trophy.
With Aston Villa kicking off, the irony that the team are attacking their own fans is not lost upon the neutral. It has been not been the roller coaster of emotions for the Villa faithful over the last 20 years, more of resigned indignation, good managers with great pedigree have passed through the club, John Gregory, Martin O’ Neil, Ron Atkinson to name but three and yet nothing seems to change, the stagnant water is still, slugglish and if not for worse teams, there is an argument that this same Villa side hunting the chance to inject life into a dying pond could have fallen through the trapdoor of each division in the last few years. Like Manchester City in the late 1990s, Bradford City and Coventry City in the time that followed, the oppressive feeling of inaction sometimes bears fruit that is rancid and maggot ridden.
There is pride in battle as the maxim goes and nice early touches by Jack Grealish, whose great grandfather Billy Garraty played in the Cup Final back in 1905, remind those fans at one end of the stadium just exactly why they boarded trains at such an early time in places such as Solihull, Witton, Acocks Green and Dorridge.
The first corner of the game is conceded and with hindsight this is where the difference between the sides lay. One not afraid to attack and even if it wasn’t successful at first, the crowd could sense that it was only a matter of time before one such corner resulted in a goal, the other side almost too scared to defend. There have been many one sided Cup Finals, some so one sided that they become a memory not to keep in the football appreciation memory vaults, yet as Koscielny, Cazorla and Walcott ravaged the opening part of the game, it was perhaps Villa’s man of the match, Shat Given, a man who would arguably unfairly shoulder more of the blame, who kept the London side out for as long as Villa did with some great saves.
Great saves though do not make a Cup Winning side, especially when the attack is looking desperate. Queen’s Park Rangers goalkeeper in 1982, the impressive Peter Hucker had the game of his life in that year’s Cup Final and yet the side from Sheppard’s Bush were to end up on the wrong side of history, the same for Joe Corrigan in ’81 as Manchester City ran foul of Tottenham. The busier the keeper, the more chance of personal glory and plaudits for their positional play and performance, yet the more likely they will end up on the losing side.
This is perhaps especially true in this year’s final, for it wasn’t long before Arsenal started to find and expose the gaps that have been in evidence throughout Villa’s season. Winger Aaron Ramsey played through what should have been the quickly closed down danger areas with the ease of a man out for a Sunday stroll with his dog and whilst Villa did make the odd excursion towards the Arsenal fans, it was like watching the less glamorous horse on Grand National day plod away at the back,, it was able to clear each fence but the winner had finished a good half hour before him, the critical might even suggest that the horse never even got out from behind the starting tape.
Living dangerously is something that Villa fans have got used to, this last season has born that out, so close to relegation yet again, made to look foolish against the likes of Burnley, Southampton, Chelsea, Q.P.R and Arsenal, it must have come as no surprise to them when the deadlock was finally broken with a thunderclap of a strike from Theo Walcott threatened to destroy the back of the net to make it one-nil to the men from Islington.
In truth the game should have been over well before the half time whistle was blown. Unlike the last few finals where the game has gone to the wore, both teams giving it their all, this was perhaps the worst one sided game since Manchester United all but tore Millwall apart, the difference between Millwall and Villa being that nobody expected the South London club to get a sniff of the trophy, whereas for Villa, who arguably should have been at least three down at the break had the faithful quivering at the knees in recent weeks and the romantic hoping that Tim Sherwood could do something to revive the dying giant of English football.
The first hand on the trophy was Arsenal’s, another 45 minutes was to prolong the agony for the second city and with each passing minute, a finger here and a palm print there soon joined that hand’s tightening grip. If this was a boxing match, not only would the difference in weight and class have had the brutality stopped long before this, questions would have been asked in close quarters and in the wider world about Villa’s ability to hold their own in the future. Radical surgery is needed at the Midland’s club. This is not a football team that should be fighting the fires of relegation but which should be challenging for at least a place in Europe and a top six finish, yet as the May sun tipped its head in embarrassment taking place below it on the Wembley turf, unless surgery is applied, it could be another whole generation before Villa get close to winning anything again.
The pressure on Given’s goal intensified as the game wore on as Alexis Sanchez made a mockery of Alan Hutton, Ozil turned on the style that had been missing from his season and every Arsenal player decided that they were finally take the rods of entrapment off their manager’s back.
With Alexis gathering the ball he tricked Alan Hutton by making him think that he is going left but he turned, took it with his right foot from 25 yards with flourish he struck the ball with pace, Given could not do a thing to push the ball away, the second goal of the day for London club Arsenal, a goal of personal exuberance and distinction.
With time ticking down, the 40 minutes left to play must have come as relief to the Villa fans. It could almost be imagined that had this game been played at Villa Park on a wet Wednesday night in the middle of November, the Holte End faithful would have either been fed up enough to start their journey home and the comfort of knowing there were three worse teams below them or the frustration would have been too much and yet another manager’s nexk would have been on the line. If Villa can get rid of the likes of Ron Atkinson who won them the League Cup in 1994, then what hope does Tim Sherwood have?
A corner for Arsenal on the right hand side which is delivered in by Carolza on to the head of Pep Mertesacker soon dissolves any linger belief in the hearts of the Villa fans in the stadium and those in the pubs and clubs of Aston, Acocks Green and Alum Rock that a comeback is possible. The singing may continue, after all this is not Birmingham in the middle of November but Wembley on the verge of summer, but at three-nil down, gallows humour might have been more appropriate.
The final act for Theo Walcott in this final is a horrible miss. He had made a amazing stride towards the ball to beat the offside trap and tries to bend the ball into the top corner but to no avail and is soon replaced Oliver Giroud, Jack Wilshere comes on for Ozil, a man who has actually been unplayable against all game, a welcome change. To Arsenal’s credit they continued to fight on, not content to stand in the sun and reflect upon the back to back trophy win and put Villa under a tremendous amount of pressure to push for a fourth goal to secure 12-0 score line over the three games this season in the league and in this final.
With three minutes left of the game, Arsenal are still pushing for a fourth goal to add more misery towards Tim Sherwood and his players and all of those supporters who have made the trip down from Birmingham to Wembley.
The name is going on the trophy for the Gunners no matter what happens in these final few minutes and for the side from London, history is made as they become the most prolific winners in the completion with 12 wins under their belt, finally outstripping Manchester United’s 11. For Arsene Wenger this also vindication of his prowess as a manager; one of Arsenal’s most successful managers, the man who revitalised a dying team in much the same way that Tim Sherwood has to do at the Villa, history is everything and by joining George Ramsey as a manager winning the trophy 6 times, history is assured.
Football is a cruel mistress and with a simple tap in from a yard out for Giroud to make it four for the Gunners, the rout is complete. This was by no means an exceptional Arsenal performance, in many areas of the game they could have been punished by a team on better form but the point being in years to come no one but the hardened fan will remember that, for the Cup being paraded through the streets of that part of North London will be all the memory is required; for Aston Villa this is going to be a very long summer, it could be an even longer season.
Venue: Wembley.
Date: Saturday 30th May 2015.
Kick off: 5:30pm.
Arsenal
Szczesny, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monereal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott.
Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Paulista, Wilshere, Giroud, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Flamini
Aston Villa
Given, Hutton, Vlaar, Okore, Richardson, Delph, Westwood, Cleverley, Grealish, Benteke, N’Zogbia.
Subs: Guzan, Baker, Bacuna, Sinclair, J.Cole, Agbonlahor, C. Sanchez
Referee
Jon Moss.
Anthony Hall