View From a Canary - Arsenal

I was so excited to visit the Emirates itself as a stadium and I was not disappointed it is simply amazing I was in awe. I was expecting a powerful and buzzing atmosphere seeing as the stadium holds so many people but us Norwich fans were by far the louder supporters. We went there and gave it our all, true passion and we never gave up throughout the whole match.

This is a report I do not really want to write as I just don't know where to start. I have been utterly traumatised by the events that took place at the Emirates and I feel like am grieving our loss.

Team news was released and for a change people were happy. Very happy. Hughton had made a number of big choices and changes and it looked like there was potential for a win! Not a whole amount to say about the first half I was happy to take the 0-0 for the moment.
What an explosive way to start the second half and the moment Turner placed that ball into the back of the net, perfectly may I add, the stadium erupted! I can honestly say that was the single best moment of my life to date. I have never screamed and cheered so loud and for so long it was just amazing. I have previously said how much I admire Turner. He has grown over this season and constantly gets better each match. He has proven that he deserves his place in the team and can put the ball in the back of the net as well as he can stop them going in the back of the net!
The most painful thing for me was that after the goal we continued to dominate and had a few more great chances and it did not particularly look like Arsenal would get back in the game. This was why the penalty being given was such a blow to us as it gave them a new burst of life. I try to avoid discussing decisions made by the officials as I do appreciate how hard their job is but for this match it must be discussed as the decisions made were simply appalling. For a start it is not a corner in the first place. Then the penalty decision; why does a linesman who was 45-50 yards away when the referee was only a matter of yards away make that kind of (incorrect) decision? In regards to the second goal the shirt pull on Bassong by Giroud seemed to go unnoticed, the exact same reason the penalty was given. As per usual there was a severe lack of consistency which is just not acceptable when so much is at stake. By this point the emotions and utter frustration had totally got to me and I found tears streaming down my face that I just could not stop or hide. As for the third goal; one of the clearest offside's I have ever seen, from the same linesman who this time was only two yards away, just unbelievable!      
We must also give massive credit again to Bunn, especially at a time when it is unsure what his future holds at NCFC. You can see how much playing for Norwich means to him and his reaction to the Podolski save summed it up. He is passionate and gets involved when he feels decisions are wrong. I am unsure whether bringing Ruddy back would be the greatest decision and it is certainly not fair to just shove him back on the bench after all his hard work and dedication for the majority of the season.  
One of the best moments for me, unsurprisingly, knowing my love for Bassong, was seeing him power down the pitch, past numerous players and finish with a superb cross to Martin who so nearly found the back of the net! Seb is just incredible and he totally dominates the pitch. He did the exact same thing against Swansea and the opposing team just don't know how to handle him. I know he has said in the past he would love to be a striker and as exciting as it may possibly be to play him as a more forward and attacking player I would not change his place as we constantly rely on him at the back.   
Yes Arsenal fans are some of the worst fans I have ever come across; sat in silence for 85 minutes (only speaking to hurl abuse at as) and only made noise when they scored. Glory hunters at their finest. Hearing about the imbecile who threw a bottle at a fan injuring her and also hearing of coins being thrown at a number of fans just goes to show that they take everything too far. In saying this some of the Norwich fans behaved disgustingly when there was just no need. Constant aggression, swearing and making abusive gestures at the opposition is just childish and it gives us a bad name. They were using this particular group of men around me as bait and biting does not get you anywhere, especially as it is them having the last laugh now.
It's funny how even though we went to the Emirates expecting nothing I came back absolutely gutted and this was because of the way that we lost. 3 deserved points were stolen from our grasp because of stupid and incorrect referee and assistant referee decisions.
Next week against Reading has become an absolutely huge match; we need to bring the energy, noise and passion that we showed against Arsenal to Carrow Road and get totally behind the guys. If they play how they played this week then we definitely deserve a win so let's keep our fingers, toes and everything else possible crossed, but we cannot put too much pressure on them at the same time.
Emily Ward