7-6 on penalties

Junebug skipping like a stone
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we'd never see an end to it all
And I dont even care to shake these zipper blues

- 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins

I'm listening to The Strokes at the moment, and it's suddenly occurred to me that all the songs on my flashdrive are probably at least 5 years old. Unless you count The Fray, of course, but I'd rather not. Suppose it indicates something, but I don't know.

We got through, 7-6 on penalties. We played poorly, conceded a really weak goal in the first half. The Roma guy crossed it low into the box, Diaby faked a dummy to let the ball pass through, Clichy wasn't marking Juan, and Almunia can't make a match-winning save to save his life. He can bleach his hair dye his goatee brown, but he doesn't do great saves. It's just not his thing.

Bendtner did a bit. Nice shimmies on the right wing, but he's a bit too one-paced to be a winger. Nasri did a bit; not really effective, but had some nice touches. Diaby made a credible imitation of a defensive midfielder.

We played too quickly in the first twenty minutes, and our players aren't skilled enough to control the ball at pace and pass it on. Both teams turned it over so many times that it was like watching fart molecules diffuse into a stagnant room.

But 7-6 on penalties. We made a hash of it, conceded a weak goal, played like crap, missed a penalty and sneaked through despite our performance. We like to do things the hard way, the Arsenal.

We love the Arsenal, despite it all.