The final point worth raising pertains to Chelsea and Man Utd. “Local” Gooners marginally dislike Chelsea more, perhaps due to the London rivalry. Yet “foreign” fans detest Man Utd more. Given that the game has gone global in the past 20 years since the advent of the Premier League and therefore become more accessible to countries around the world, those abroad have grown up in an era of Man Utd dominance. And not just on the pitch either. Success leads to gloating fans, and last week’s blog comments included many (especially from Asia) who stated that coming into contact with such gloryhunters had been a decisive factor in their dislike of the Mancunian reds.
van der Vaart slotted wide and high past Fabianski for 2-2. With twenty minutes to go, my half time nerves were incorrect, we could most certainly lose this unless we grow some balls and impose ourselves on a game that we had grasped in both hands in the first 45 minutes