FOOTBALL: FA CUP FINAL



I was in Tampines Mall to watch the football match live. It was at the roof of the building itself. It was organized by The New Paper and TigerBeer I think. Since we have Tigerbeer sold at the place for viewers to enjoy while watching the match.



They prepare a large screen for the projection of the match with a left and right hand side of the stage having a television each for those sitting at the sides.



The host is a guy whom I am not familiar with. You see this lady helping him out in giving prizes as they have alot of questions and games before the match for those who come.



The crowd filled the whole place as the match is about to start. Judging from the noise generated, there are a significant amount of Manchester United and Arsenal fans around the place, though there are those claiming to be Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle fans here and there.



The match itself was pretty much dominated by Manchester United. Cristino Ronaldo, the player I hate, created alot of trouble in Arsenal's wings for the whole match. He should be the man of the match for Manchester United. Vieira is not playing well and had some very lousy tackles which I think should have him red carded long ago. Wayne Rooney with his force and effective ball controls and dribblings also almost get a few goals.

van Nistelrooy, another of my hated player wasted so many balls, with many of them going past his legs with no action. He wasted alot of chances. Ashley Cole was not very effective, with many balls going past him easily the whole night through, he was struggling to defend his side of the field and almost costed Arsenal a few goals. If not for the amazing Lehmann! He is Arsenal's man of the match. Reyes is also one of those amazing lousy tackler, he should improve his tackling skills. To me, he was lucky to stay in the field for that long, he should be out long ago with a red card.

Overall, Manchester United deserved the cup, they have more chances and played much better as a team. They threatened the goal more often. Luck and super goalkeeping by Lehmann was the reason Arsenal won. Van Persie to me is the most effective Arsenal offence of the night. I like his style. He may become big some day.

Another trophiless season for Manchester United, the richest club in the world. As for Arsenal, they finished with silverware for the fourth consecutive season. Manager Arsene Wenger has now won seven major trophies (three championships, four FA Cups) in his eight full seasons with the Gunners, making him the most successful Arsenal manager of all time.

Manchester United are still the most successful club in the history of the FA Cup, with 11 wins from 17 final appearances. However, Arsenal have now closed to 10 wins from 17 appearances.

Arsenal may not deserved the cup but football is not about the number of chances you took but about goals you scored. Arsenal have lost cup finals themselves on shoot-outs: the European Cup Winners Cup to Valencia in 1980 and the Uefa Cup to Galatasaray in 2000. They’ve also lost a couple of Charity/Community Shields to Manchester United on penalties in the past. In 2001, the Gunners outplayed Liverpool at Cardiff and should have had two or three more goals than Freddie Ljungberg’s strike to show for their superiority before Michael Owen turned the game on its head with two stunning goals in the closing minutes. It was devastating for Gunners. It seemed unfair but that's football for you!