Last match at the Emirates

A few days back I joined P. for what would be my last match-day at the Emirates: Arsenal vs. Sven Goran Erickson's 'new-look' Man city that, prior to the match topped the premiership with three straight wins. It was a perfect day, with the usual pre-match rituals of a fry-up at the Papaya cafe and singing with other season ticket holders at the Rocket. As the season has only just started, there was an open mic for supporters to debut new chants for the crowd. About 20 mins before kick-off a large posse of us paraded from the Rocket to the stadium all singing boisterously. The match was a bit of a nail-biter with more of our famous squandered chances, and an unsuccessful penalty kick by Van Persie, but with competent defending and a decent performance in goal by Almunia, we hung on until Fabregas provided the winning goal about 10 mins. from the final whistle. The game ended with the relieved stands celebrating another 3 pts with, "One-nil to the arsenal": the ideal culmination of a memorable year supporting one of London's historic football clubs.