The Calendar year 2015 was unforgettable as a Gooner from Uganda. Here are my Top Moments:
During the January transfer, Wenger brought in only Krystian Bielik and some fans complained. Wenger is my manager and even if he ignores transfer suggestions, he still fills seats. Just sit and watch! In the summer, he bought only Petr Cech who went on to equal the 169 game Premiership Clean Sheet Record held by David James and then break it in the very last game before the year ended.
Much earlier on 7th February, Arsenal scored first in the 11th minute but a Harry Kane brace gave Tottenham a 2-1 win. Sweet North London derby success literally rejected Arsenal that day, but in the 2016 Capital One (League) Cup 4th Round at White Hart Lane, Mathieu Flamini stole the show with two great goals.
On 12th September, there was a lot of midfield interplay. Stoke City played hard but Arsenal made sure their two goals in either half (by Walcott, then a header from Giroud) were not cancelled out.
The Emirates witnessed a hostile Champions League visit on 29th September by Olympiacos (Piraeus who equaled club record with 16 straight wins at the start of 2016 Superleague Greece). They showed absolutely no respect for Arsenal's home advantage and scored first. Walcott equalised but they scored a second time after Ospina's mishap on the goalline trying to stop an in-swinging corner shot. Alexis equalised for Arsenal but one minute later, the Greeks struck their winner. Goals were flowing like a broken drainage channel relegating Arsenal to the bottom of their table. Only one team could win that game and they came well prepared. The return leg required the Gunners to win away by a two goal margin or 2-3 and above to qualify to the knockout second round and face Barcelona. Giroud rose to the occasion and scored his first competitive Arsenal hattrick without reply.
Another great Champions League night was on 20th October against Bayern Munich when a masterclass in winning back ball possession by quickfooted right back Hector Bellerin created a last minute goal assist for Oezil. Mesut tucked it away with a skilful volley but needed the referee's goal confirmation from goalline technology first before his kneeslide celebration. Arsenal shouldn't have celebrated too much before the final party because Bayern revenged 5-1 in Germany and jokingly remarked that they didn't know Bellerin who missed the return game.
With a seemingly impossible mission to get past Manchester United because of recent history, lots of movement, solidarity and unknown codes among Gunners on 4th October suddenly gave Arsenal hope for success as early as the 5th minute. A moment later, Oezil doubled the advantage and by the 19th minute, Alexis had rifled in from distance his second but Arsenal's third goal.
On 31st October, Arsenal went to Wales to play against history: The previous season, Swansea had done a double over Arsenal and two goals seemed assured for the home team with an in form newcomer Andre Ayew on their team. However, this time good goal keeping from Cech and fast defending by Bellerin maintained a clean sheet. A clever header by Giroud was Wenger's 2000th Goal in charge, Koscielny added another and Joel Campbell scored his first Arsenal goal to give Arsenal a relieving win.
When Sanchez joined Barcelona in 2011, he told Barca TV that he "learned to play football in the street". That was the kind of football Arsenal needed to beat Manchester City on Monday night 21st December without him. Theo Walcott's progressive deadlock-breaking screamer was just a replica of Alexis goals against Liverpool (4-1) and Aston Villa (FA Cup) the previous season plus Leicester (5-2) and Man Utd (3-0) this season.
In the whole of 2015, Arsenal had the Most Wins, Most Goals Scored, Fewest Goals Conceeded, Most Clean Sheets and Most Points Won plus ended the Year at the summit of the league. Even the moon shone red for Arsenal in 2015. Happy New Year, Champs! Hope you enjoy 2016, Oezil and Cech will definitely set new Assist and Clean Sheet Records respectively! I also expect the Gunners to win at least one trophy (if not three like they did in pre-season) unless GOD says No. Victory through Harmony...
