Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FEAR AND LOATHING
Gunners brave victory falls flat as they miss out on Champions League, lose key defenders for FA Cup final and furious fans turn on Kroenke
IT was too little too late, the top four finally gone despite an impressive win. But for once the anger and frustration of Arsenal fans was not aimed at Arsene Wenger. Instead, their chants were directed at majority shareholder Stan Kroenke rather than the muchmaligned boss who has endured the toughest and most disappointing season in his 21-year reign. They sang “Stan Kroenke – we want you out of our club” in the second half, climbing on the Alisher Usmanov bandwagon. The Russian tycoon tried to exploit the divisions at the Emirates with a £1billion takeover bid – rejected by Kroenke – but his cynical timing has only added to the uncertainty. It felt like a big moment in the club’s history because they will not be in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years, Wenger’s contract is up and they face a turbulent summer. It is perhaps understandable then that Wenger did not join the “lap of appreciation” at the final whistle and stood by the tunnel, even though he has walked round with his players in the past. He has been abused by some supporters for much of the season and may have been fearful of how they would react, although the players got a great reception as they trudged round. It is Kroenke who is now under fire even though he is hardly to blame for some poor performances on the pitch. Wenger must also be wondering what he will do in the FA Cup final after Laurent Koscielny was sent off and fellow centre-half Gabriel carried off with a knee injury which looks certain to rule him out of Wembley. Arsenal played for 76 minutes with 10 men after Koscielny’s red card for a crazy challenge on Enner Valencia and yet still beat Everton. Had it not been for keeper Joel Robles they would have won even more comfortably. Everton were on the beach at times and even some remarkably generous and bad refereeing from Michael Oliver – who should have sent off Morgan Schneiderlin and Ashley Williams for blatant second yellow cards – could not help them. Ronald Koeman dropped Ross Barkley to the bench amid his contract stand-off but then had to send him on for Tom Davies after 26 minutes. Still Everton could not change the momentum of the game as Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil turned on the style and Hector Bellerin’s pace and energy down the right made him Arsenal’s best player by some distance. It was Ozil and Bellerin involved in the eighthminute opener. Ozil pulled back a cross, Danny Welbeck missed an open goal and did his best to play his way out of the cup final before Bellerin slammed the ball in the net. Arsenal had started brilliantly but Koscielny’s rush of blood, a crazy sliding tackle on Valencia, looked as though it would change the game. The red card rules the Arsenal captain out of the Wembley showpiece. Remarkably, Arsenal doubled their lead on 27 minutes. A Sanchez shot was deflected, Welbeck got the loose ball and pulled it back for the Chilean to fire in. The home side had to ride out spells of heavy pressure, Petr Cech making brilliant saves while Robles did the same at the other end as Arsenal’s 10 men played on the counter attack. Gabriel was injured in a 49thminute challenge with Valencia. On came Per Mertesacker, who took the armband from Cech and proceeded to have an excellent game. Wenger has big issues with his defence. Shkodran Mustafi was ill and Kieran Gibbs injured, prompting him to think about reverting to a back four. But it looks to be Rob Holding, Mustafi and Nacho Monreal for his cup final back three. Monreal inexplicably handled a cross on 58 minutes and Romelu Lukaku slotted home the resultant penalty for his 25th goal of the season. Aaron Ramsey’s brilliant 20-yarder at least ensured the season finished on a high. But the gathering storm of uncertainty and a defensive crisis is hardly good preparation for an FA Cup final.