A Painful Loss to Aston Villa

Football is such a universal language in the world of today, as it can govern one's emotions and feelings at any given time. At one moment, you are all excited that you have something to watch over the weekend, your favourite club will be playing, and not only that, but you guys are at the top of the table. Then there is a change in the event, your team experiences a painful loss, where the game simply slips from the hands of your team. Now your mood goes from happy to sad.

Right from the beginning of the match, I knew that Aston Villa were not going to back down in this fight. From their physicality, pressure, and pressing in the match, it was going to be war on the battlefield in Villa Park. Then, to crown it all up, there was an opener from Matty Cash. All of a sudden, the Gunners were behind by a goal. At this point, the struggle had intensified for my team. We were handling a stubborn team that had defeated the likes of Manchester City, with all the signs that they wanted to win the match.

As an Arsenal fan, I know it was not going to be over so easily, and you can see that from the second half of the game, where the coach made some pretty adjustments to the squad. I am sure he definitely gave them a prep talk during the halftime break, which is the reason they came back with more energy in the second half. With that energy, Bukayo Saka, our star boy and prodigy, made a fantastic crossing to Trossad, and Trossad was able to bring in the goal to level the playing field for both sides looking for the 3 points.

We tried to keep the pressure alive with various chances, and despite the fouls Bukayo had to go through, it still was not enough for a goal. That is not all, Odegaard also contributed his football finesse mixed with agility and stubbornness. Yet there was no outcome for the Gunners fan. Football is a true trigger for emotional reaction, especially when it comes to your favorite club. I do not know what to say about this match except that it was a painful one when a die-minute goal popped into the net with not enough time for a possible equalizer. It was all a product of defensive error from a strike on our defense. The player literally put their bodies out there to defend against the ball, but it was of no use.

_{How me and the whole Arsenal team felt}

And then it was 2 - 1. A loss for the team, and it was game over for the match. The pain does not come from the loss alone, but it emanates from the fact that it was a dying-minute goal. That point where you have led the game to a draw, and boom, all of a sudden, your opponent gets to score. Something like that can also happen in chess, where you feel it was a draw, and a slight error causes you to lose the game. I have spoken about it in my Hivechess lecture, where it only takes one move for you to lose a game. This time for Arsenal, it was a dying-minute goal.

Well, that is football for you. There is a winner, and there is a loser. You can only pick up the pieces and move on. At least we are still topping the table, but now more than ever, we need to gain more points if we want to win the Premier League.

---

_{I am @samostically, a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.}

♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟

Thanks For Reading!

Posted Using INLEO