Gunners must bring bulldog spirit on travels

WHO could wish for more from Santa the Gooner, than a nodding Arsenal bulldog to adorn the dashboard of my motor and three points from our encounter with the Blues, which guarantees that the Gunners will ring in the New Year if not as leaders then at least as the capital’s top dogs?

Despite the unremitting positivity of a new car mascot (that doesn’t do negative!), the optimism hardly abounded as we headed for the ground on Monday night, banking on the law of averages as our best bet for finally breaking our infuriating hoodoo against the Premier League’s big fish. I suppose if you eat the competition’s dust enough times, there must eventually come a time when your desire to avoid the bitter taste of defeat will ensure that you are just that little bit more ‘up for it’ than an increasingly complacent opposition.

Admittedly it would’ve felt slightly more fulfilling if a less flaccid display from Carlo Ancelotti’s side had forced the Arsenal to produce their scintillating best to beat the Blues, but it feels as if it’s been so long in coming, that absolutely nothing was going to spoil the euphoria of finally getting one over the Blues.