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I was thinking today about how most of the time, when you're in the middle of something - especially something nerve-wracking like a sports competition - you don't really enjoy it while it's happening. I know I'm often guilty of that, which is why I tried to make an extra effort to enjoy this Arsenal season while we were riding high. I don't know that I can speak for all Arsenal fans, but I think I did okay with it.
I totally failed with the FA Cup. I think it's because there's so much time between games, but I lost track of it a lot, especially in the early stages. So I decided to go back and take a look at how we got where we ended up (that is, carrying a silver pot around on a London bus with a dinosaur in a damn car).
First and Second Rounds
We're the famous Arsenal, we don't play until the Third Round.
Third Round
Arsenal 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Serge Gnabry assisted Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky housed Danny Rose, and Arsenal had one of three North London Derby wins on the season.
Fourth Round
Arsenal 4-0 Coventry City
Lukas Podolski scored twice, and Gedion Zelalem got his first real game in an Arsenal shirt.
Fifth Round
Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool
Luis Suarez fell over a bunch of times, Lukasz Fabianski dominated Daniel Sturridge, and Arsenal eked out a close win.
Quarterfinal
Arsenal 4-1 Everton
A goal and a brilliant assist from Mesut Ozil came early and late respectively, and Mikel Arteta's cool (second-chance) penalty helped erase a Romelu Lukaku equalizer late in the first half.
Semifinal
Arsenal 1-1 Wigan Athletic (Arsenal 4-2 on penalties)
Arsenal failed to make several chances count, and a second-half penalty given away by Per Mertesacker nearly spelled disaster. But that same man equalized off a broken corner kick, screaming his way to celebration. A goalless extra period sent the match to penalties, and Fabianski saved the first two Wigan attempts to put them firmly against the wall. Arteta, Kim Kallstrom (in an Arsenal cameo that we shall not forget), Olivier Giroud, and Santi Cazorla all scored theirs without incident and Arsenal were through to the final.
FA Cup Final
Arsenal 3-2 Hull City a.e.t.
Two-nil down. Three-two up. Aaron Ramsey won us the Cup.
And there you have it. Six games, six wins, a lot of yelling, and a trophy at last. Let's see how long we can keep this party going.