Arsenal, Premier League

Norwich Seriously Dents Arsenal’s Champions League Hopes

This season is turning into a nightmare for Arsenal fans after today’s 3-3 draw at home against Norwich.

Arsenal’s fans worst fears are that Spurs finishes above the Gunners in third place and that Chelsea grab that fourth Champions League spot by beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in two weeks. That combination would send Arsenal into the Europa League next season.

And after today’s draw at home against Norwich, Arsenal are now two points clear of Tottenham and Newcastle, however, Arsenal have only one game left this season while the others have two.

Arsenal could have not gotten off to a better start when on-loan midfielder Yossi Benayoun put them ahead after just 65 seconds.

Sometimes scoring to early can throw off the scoring teams rhythm and that appeared to be the case here as Arsenal relaxed and Norwich took the game to the Gunners. Norwich were by far the better side in the first half and deservedly equalized when Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny spilled Wes Hoolahan’s shot before Grant Holt’s deflected effort gave the visitors a deserved half-time lead.

In the second half Arsenal increased their tempo and had Norwich on the back foot for most of the second half. With all the Arsenal pressure it was just a matter of when they would score, and eventually the Premier League’s players of the year,Robin van Persie scored two goals in eight minutes to give Arsenal the lead. RVP’s second goal was his 30th league goal of the season and equaled Thierry Henry’s club record.

After going 3-2 up with 10 minutes to go, Arsenal changed from a high pressure attack to a “prevent defence” which invited Norwich to attack. And Norwich took advantage of Arsenal’s poor defending to score a deserved equalizer through substitute Steve Morison.

There was still time for Arsenal to put the Norwich goal under pressure and they should have gotten a penalty in the final moments of the game when referee Anthony Taylor missed a clear shove by Kyle Naughton in the back of Van Persie as he looked to tap in a winner at the far post. Horrible referring decision.