ARSENAL 3-2 HULL CITY (AET) - OLA ADEOTOYE (19/05/2014)

Arsenal's stay in trophy wilderness approached almost a decade (nine years to be exact) before Saturdays final against Steve Bruce's Hull City. Since Arsenal's legendary midfielder and Captain Patrick Vieira lifted the FA Cup aloft in 2005, Gunner's fans have had to painfully watch on as rival after rival picked up silverware in their absence. As the final whistle blew in their semi-final match against Everton, it dawned on fans that their club were one step closer to exorcising their demons of the past nine years. With Hull getting past a stubborn Sheffield United team they too had the opportunity to lift a cup steeped in the history of the English game. However entering the game Arsene's side were made outright favourites by the bookies, which came as no shock considering the gulf in class between the two teams and the individual talent present in the Arsenal squad. Such was the confidence amongst the team, its players and their fans, that days before the game the Arsenal victory parade bus had been prepped and was awaiting Wenger and his players' triumphant return.

But as pundits alike remind us every year 'this is Cup football' and what makes the FA Cup in particularly its showpiece final at Wembley special, are the moments and at times shocking results the 'underdogs' pick up against the top tier sides. Though as much as I and the rest of twitter had our fingers crossed for an upset (those of us outside of the Arsenal fan club), deep down we were all somewhat pessimistic of those chances. Yet four minutes into the game Hull took the lead through James Chester's flick, whether accidental or purposely it hit the net. That goal seemed to have winded the entire Arsenal team as five minutes later Hull scored their second as captain Curtis Davies pounced first as Alex Bruce's header hit the post, before side-footing it home from the tightest of angles. I'm sure you are aware that after my previous comments I was celebrating with the rest of the 25,000+ Hull City fans. After ten minutes the scoreboard read Arsenal nil Hull City two who would've imagined such events. Any celebration was short-lived however as Santi Cazorla's brilliant curling and dipping free-kick sailed past Hull's Scottish keeper Allan McGregor. Both team entered the tunnel for half-time after what had been a pulsating forty-five minutes of football.

For the rest of the game Arsenal dominated the ball and the game with Hull clinging on for dear life. But as Arsenal cranked up the pressure it was inevitable that the 'Gunners' would find the net, and from a Cazorla corner Koscielny diverted the ball through McGregor's legs. Hull managed to ride the remaining wave after wave of pressure from the North London side, but in extra time just as penalties were looking a possibility up popped the man of the hour and Arsenal's season Aaron Ramsey. Who from a delicate Giroud back-heel steered the ball past the goalie in a calm manner. The resulting reaction at full time was the exact opposite on the other hand, but who could blame any supporter of Arsenal, after all that Wenger, the team, and the supporters had been through over the years, they had ended their nine year trophy hoodoo and were newly crowned FA Cup winners of 2014.