We were sensationally dumped out of Europe in the most Spursiest of ways at The Emirates on Thursday night, ending 50% of our chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
We now have all of our eggs in one Premier League basket as we attempt to qualify for next seasons Champions League after Olympiacos beat us 2-1 at home on the night, going through on away goals.
The tie looked to be heading for penalty kicks until a rather predictable winner came from a corner, with Youssef El Arabi notching the goal which sent the visiting fans loopy in the away end.
Pape Abou Cisse had squared the tie with a header (from another corner) on 53 minutes as Arsenal struggled to get into the game meaning the game headed to extra time and then seemed destined for penalties.
Man of the moment Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored one of the best goals The Emirates has witnessed, scoring a dramatic bicycle kick in the late stages of extra time to put us ahead in the tie. However, the feeling was always one more goal would see us go out, and it was coming as the final whistle looked in sight.
The Keystone Cops at the back, who had played well up until this point, combined with Leno to give away a needless corner with a minute left and what happened next was as predictable as Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son being back from injury for the Spurs v Arsenal game.
The corner was not cleared by the Keystone Cops and El Arabi slotted a shot past Leno to win the game, sparking amazing scenes in the Clock End Lower as the away fans went crazy.
This wasn’t even the end of the drama as Arsenal pressed to win the game in the dying seconds on extra time.
Aubameyang found himself six yards out with the goal gaping, but he fluffed his lines, somehow skewing the ball wide when it looked easier to score, and just seconds later the final whistle went, leaving the Arsenal players down and out on The Emirates turf.
The result now means we just remain in the FA Cup, where we play Portsmouth on Monday night, yet another potential banana skin. Our fragile confidence means we go to Fratton Park on the back foot where cup specialists Pompey will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of The Arsenal.
If we suffer another cup exit, our second in 4 days, this would leave us with just our league campaign to finish off. In better news, it would mean we can focus everything on trying to climb up the table with no distractions, and no more midweek interruptions.
It would also mean however, that our beleaguered troops would be down and out, needing to be lifted before we try to notch up the points we need to make something of an otherwise disastrous season under our three managers.
Down, but not out? We can but hope.
