It’s been a long held belief that Arsenal suck at early kick-offs.
It’s not surprising.
Some of the heaviest defeats that Arsenal have suffered recently have come in the dreaded 12.45pm slot on TV, so many were naturally cautious when we learned that we’d be facing the league leaders even earlier at 12pm. This came after we’d all calmed down from it being moved with almost no notice at all. Obviously.
We needn’t have worried (we did, but that was because, well, Arsenal) as this was the fourth 12pm kick-off at the Emirates and Arsenal have won all of them.
But that’s not all…
Arsenal have won all four of the midday kick offs played at Emirates Stadium, each with a winner in the final 10 minutes.
— Josh James (@JoshJJames78) February 14, 2016
The other three games were against Sunderland and Fulham in the Premier League and Huddersfield in the FA Cup when a late Fabregas penalty, awarded when Nicklas Bendtner was hauled down in the box with four minutes to go, saved the day.
Other notables who played in that game include Denilson, Sebastian Squillaci, Manuel Almunia, Emmanuel Eboue, Abou Diaby**, and Marouane Chamakh.
*shudders*
**not included in the shudders but listed for novelty value