Our exco member Dhanesh sends his match report for festive games against West Ham and Newcastle!

All roads lead to London. To North London. To The Arsenal.

After waiting for nearly 4 years, I was thrilled to be back to catch The Arsenal live in action. My last trip to Emirates Stadium was in February 2019. So I wasted no time in booking my trip to catch us playing against West Ham and Newcastle over Boxing Day and New Year’s festive period.

Both matches were played at night time in the cold, wet weather. As usual, taking the tube on the Piccadilly line starts the journey to Holloway Road and Arsenal tube stations. I was wondering how would the World Cup break affect our momentum but once the match started against West Ham, the buzz inside the stadium allayed my fears. I must say the boisterous crowd was absolutely on point and gave the boys the push they needed to secure the 3-1 win. You could say the Gunners simply hammered them with such a convincing all-round display. 3 points secured!

Truthfully when I first booked my trip, I thought playing Newcastle would be “easier” for us. But true to recent form, Newcastle were a hard team to beat and I was even more nervous before this game. We huffed and puffed but couldn’t break the Toon Army defence, despite dodgy refereeing and dodgy “play-acting” by their players. Only secured a draw and couldn’t get the win we needed but we’re still top of the league eh? 

We’re not even halfway through the season yet and it’s a looooong way to go. I know Gooners everywhere are optimistic but I suppose it’s in our own hands to chart our path to success in May. I’m just glad I was there to see Mikel Arteta’s Red and White Army in action and I left London with a big smile! COYG!!!

Thanks to Arsenal Singapore for securing the match tickets and good to see a few fellow Singapore Gooners at the stadium as well. Gooners on the road!