Was it the sheepish smile of Bacary Sagna, one that only a right-back can have, after missing a rare but uncomplicated chance to get his name on the already crowded goalscorers list that Tuesday night? Or was it the Professor, in a rare display of emotion, jumping up and down like a kid who got his candy back?
Could it be the innocent bewilderment on Andrei Arshavin’s face, after he made a total mess of what could be effortlessly the easiest chance to score in the match?
How about the little trick artiste Samir Nasri weaving through three Porto defenders, maintaining his balance, firing a scorcher into the far corner of the goal and then spreading his arms to fly – smug in the knowledge that after producing that mesmerising piece of magic, he could even miraculously - fly.
But maybe what beats them all is Nicklas Bendtner managing to score his first-ever hat-trick in the senior league; considered a certain improbability in the eyes of most except his own, of course.
After a hat-trick of misses against an opponent as burnley as Burnley, it was nothing short of a miracle to see him lunge forward and actually get his feet to hit the ball into the goal in the very first serious attempt that he and Arsenal had. And horror of horrors, he manages to put it in again – the easiest of chances -- but he had got them before and the ball never seemed to obey his command. And then came the third – gift wrapped in the form of a penalty.
Anyone in the church world keeping tab? That’s three miracles in the span of a mere 90 minutes. That’s sainthood for Nicklas.
The entire Arsenal clan, from Arsene Wenger to the obsessive Nick Hornby, and from the pseudo United and Chelsea crowd to them dirty Spurs, all will vouch that these are indeed miracles that demand the immediate induction of this Arsenal striker into sainthood.
Which saint in the history of sainthood has managed to perform three miracles in the span of a football match – that too without extra time?
So that’s it then: Saint Nicklas and then lets sell him off to the highest bidder. Will get a better price that way and we can buy a better striker. But the Great Dane did the job for Arsenal when they needed him the most, and the Gunners are grateful for that.
Every Arsenal faithful lives yet another day.
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