Arséne Wenger savours FA Cup win over Hull as Arsenal end drought

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/18/arsene-wenger-fa-cup-arsenal-hull-trophy-drought

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Arsène Wenger felt the contents of the entire magnum of champagne that Lukas Podolski deposited over him. The Arsenal manager felt his lower back for a second after being given the bumps by his players. And he might have felt a little silly when an enforced costume change on the Wembley pitch left him wearing an over-sized red tracksuit top.

The long-cultivated cerebral image was jolted in the bedlam that followed the full-time whistle and the walk up those steps to be reunited with a trophy. But this was an occasion when protocol was overridden by delirium and sheer release.

Everywhere you looked, the emotions were raw. It was painted on to the faces of Hull City's broken players, many of whom had slumped to the turf after the final whistle. Running on empty towards the end of normal time, they were inspired to dig deeper and deeper by the club's remarkable journey from the Championship to the Europa League in a little over a year. They could almost touch the FA Cup in the early running, when the noise inside the stadium was so loud you could barely hear the person in the next seat as Arsenal wobbled once again on the big occasion away from home.

Kieran Gibbs' header off the line from Alex Bruce in the 13th minute prevented Hull from taking a 3-0 lead. That would prove to be the turning point. Inexorably, the underdogs were reeled in.

For Arsenal Aaron Ramsey, the goal-scoring hero of extra time, had wrapped himself in a large Wales flag and he could revel in finishing an excellent, if injury-truncated season, on the high note of his career.

Laurent Koscielny, who had swivelled to turn home the equaliser, could savour redemption after his part in the Carling Cup final disaster against Birmingham in 2011. And for a snap-shot of what it all meant, there was the fan who hugged his young daughter and hoisted her into the air. "She wasn't alive the last time," he shouted.

It was Wenger, though, who seemed like the central figure at the moment when a thick line was finally drawn, at nine seasons, under the club's run without winning a trophy. He hurled those long arms up and down, and he hugged his players and members of staff. He needed this more than anyone. He even threw his tie into the Arsenal end.

Thomas Vermaelen, the non-playing club captain, got his hands on the trophy first and then it was Wenger's turn. He has not smiled like this for a long time even if, back on ground level, he did not look entirely thrilled to be chased down and drenched by Podolski, the dressing-room joker. "After nine years, he needed a little drink," Podolski said.

Hull's regrets took in Gibbs' goalline clearance and the decision to award Arsenal the corner from which Koscielny equalised; the final touch seemed to be the substitute Yaya Sanogo's flick rather than any block from Curtis Davies.

If only, several of the Hull players suggested, they had reached half-time at 2-0 or even protected their cushion for a little longer than they did. Santi Cazorla's free-kick, which the goalkeeper Allan McGregor might have saved, was priceless in its timing, from an Arsenal point of view. Perhaps Hull sat back too soon. Their desire to play for time was evident almost from the second-half restart.

Steve Bruce, the Hull manager, was proud yet utterly deflated. As he held his runners-up medal in its small red-leather box, he admitted that it meant nothing. The Europa League seems daunting at the moment and Hull will have to strengthen. More immediately, Bruce needs a holiday.

He felt that his team could exploit Arsenal's zonal marking on set-pieces but there was still astonishment when they surged into the lead. James Chester's instinctive finish for the opener was particularly eye-catching. "I felt sick on the bench," Jack Wilshere, the Arsenal substitute, said. Vermaelen added that "when you are on the bench, it is even worse. There are a lot of nerves".

Hull restricted Arsenal and Wenger's team created little until he swapped Podolski for Sanogo on 61 minutes and switched to a 4-4-2 formation, as he had done in the semi-final, when trailing to Wigan Athletic. Sanogo had poked fun at Chelsea and José Mourinho before the game asking, in a tweet, how many trophies they had won this season. Ill-advised does not begin to cover it.

But the striker made a difference, helping to carry the fight more directly to Hull's three central defenders.

Wilshere admitted that the equaliser was "quite a lucky goal" with Bacary Sagna's header ricocheting for Koscielny but thereafter, there was an inevitability about the outcome.

There was, of course, an almighty flutter. Arsenal would have it no other way. After Per Mertesacker's slip on 116 minutes, Lukasz Fabianski began a dash from his line and he was rounded by the substitute Sone Aluko who, from an angle, was narrowly off target.

"It was a massive roller coaster," Fabianski said. "We were down but we made a great comeback. It will go down as one of the greatest comebacks in FA Cup final history." Wenger and Arsenal are revived.

Man of the Match Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal)