I’m contemplating starting a helpline for all the faint-hearted souls out there who can’t take this roller coaster torture that our beloved Arsenal is unleashing.

I’m too young to die of a heart attack induced by following the Arsenal who have developed an unhealthy propensity to score late in games. 18 goals in the last 5 to 10 minutes of matches with 3 of them coming with the very last kick of the game is not good for anyone’s heart.

I sometimes make a point of reading comments and thoughts Arsenal fans post on blogs and boards during the actual game, and these totally reflect the roller coaster emotions that we all go through. One second, folks are cursing out the team, the next second, the players are the best thing that’s ever happened to the club.

There was even a chap who decided to thank Jesus Christ for the last minute goal yesterday. However, a couple of fans took offence and quickly pointed out that the goal had nothing to do with Jesus Christ and it started from Denilson’s pass to Nasri, who exchanged passes with Rosicky before Walcott laid the ball off to Sagna to cross for Bendtner’s headed bullet into the net.

That’s what you get when following such an emotive game. Hindsight does help though, and you get to appreciate why you love to follow the Arsenal and the joy this team brings to us every day.

The most positive aspect of the game for me was that even with minutes to go, the team didn’t lump the ball forward and hope for the best. We patiently built our play and went about the business of wearing down the Wolves and it paid off.

At the end of January, I wrote a column on ACLF suggesting why Arsenal can do without buying a new striker
. My assertion was that a combination of Nicklas Bendtner and Eduardo was a better proposition for Arsenal than buying a striker because people thought that’s what we needed.

Bendtner’s 7 goal return in 8 games or so is a better return than any big name, big money striker we could have bought off the shelf could have guaranteed.

The thing is this though – Bendtner is scoring match changing goals. Whether it’s the first goal of the game, the equalizer, or the match winner, he is quietly but surely chipping in.

Not just this season, Bendtner also scored some very crucial match winning goals last season in very tight games that could have gone either way.

Some still argue that Bendtner has yet to prove himself. I personally think that it’s absolute nonsense to question what his contribution and impact to the team is. It’s not just about the goals, the Great Dane’s link play and influence in the team is paramount.

He was the provider for both goals against Barcelona, and yesterday he popped up again with that rocket into the back of Wolves net.

Mick McCarthy was already counting his point and getting ready to wax lyrical in front of the cameras about the performance of his 10 men. With 44 seconds to go before the final whistle, it was hard to see how Arsenal would come back.

The look on McCarthy’s face when shaking hands with Wenger was priceless. It was like someone had just stolen his family silver while grazing his testicles. He was a beaten man.

Considering that he decided to applaud his captain for a show of violent conduct, I have no sympathy whatsoever with McCarthy and his team. I’m just thankful that Tomas Rosicky can still walk without the aid of crutches.

It was great to see the Arsenal players remonstrate and fight for their team mate and the longer the referee delayed taking out the yellow card, the more it became obvious that Henry was destined for an early shower.

The title race is still on, and we still have the momentum. Most of us would have preferred a draw between Manchester United and Chelsea, but we’ll take a Chelsea win for now.

Let’s hope Tottenham and Liverpool are strong enough to assist us against Chelsea, and let’s hope we continue with the rich vein of form that we’re showing.

I’m still baffled though, by the Arsenal fans (actually – Arsenal customers) who decided that they’re not going to support their team to the end. They clearly don’t have faith in the team to complete a job, and perhaps they should go and support another team and give the opportunity of a seat in the stadium to more worthy fans.

I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again. This team deserves better support than the fair weather plastics who can’t be bothered to wait for the final whistle.

Over to Saloner.

“1-0 to the Arsenal” rarely felt as sweet:

Virtually all the dailies this morning are reporting statistics that should hearten all Arsenal fans: We are unbeaten in the last 8 league games, seven of them wins; We have scored goals in the last 10 minutes in nine consecutive games now; We have scored the decisive goal in stoppage time in three of our last six games.

In the aftermath of our losses to Man United and Chelsea, speculation was rife about our ability to bounce back. Those statistics represent a decisive answer.

Given that injuries have left us short of full strength virtually throughout the season, and that key players – Eduardo, Rosicky, and Vela most importantly – are yet to find form, those statistics become the more impressive.

Whatever our shortcomings, character we possess aplenty. For a young team maturing painfully from adolescence into adulthood, that’s a good place to begin from.

The match, for all practical purposes, turned out to be Hahnemann Vs. the Arsenal, and that’s not to deride the rest of the Wolves’ squad. But for him, we should have been out of sight thirty minutes into the game, perhaps 5 goals to the good.

Eduardo not yet being at his best didn’t aid the cause either, though it is heartening we can yet throw in Nasri and Bendtner and hope to snatch games late in the day. Player availability, and our fixture list, being what they are, we really can’t be choosers.

When earlier this season, we held our nerve in the aftermath of Ramsey’s injury to win at Stoke, quite a few voices suggested the result was a decisive one in our title chase. We at SCA, by contrast, have opined that every game post Chelsea was equally important to our quest.

But last night I genuinely felt that the team turned a decisive corner in the title race. Something about the reactions of the team, Wenger, and the entire coaching staff suggested that now they genuinely believed – When was the last time one saw Wenger run to Pat Rice and embrace him?

Well aware that a draw would mark the funeral of our aspirations, we refused to give up in the face of Hahnemann’s obduracy and the near extinction of our hopes well into stoppage time.

Dear readers, I think we are home to a team of champions. Yes, there are lots of aspects that need addressing before we become the finished article; but spirit isn’t something you can coach – teams, and players, either have it or they don’t.

We can agree, I hope, that this team has the commodity in truckloads, and that’s 90% of the job done.

I must digress to thank one of our older readers who alerted us to this team’s potential while I, at least, was ambivalent about their prospects.

Flint McCullough, who has followed the Arsenal longer than I’ve been alive (I’m 36, for perspective), was way ahead of the pack when he quite firmly maintained, often in the face of frustration, that we were indeed witness to a champion team developing at the Arsenal.

I decisively came around to his view last night. I owe you one Flint; your loyalty and perspective set an example for us younger fans. Thank you.

Looking ahead, we play Barcelona without Arshavin, Fabregas and Gallas. If Diaby, Rosicky, and Song raise their games – and I’d be surprised if the team haven’t been hard at work on these in training – I think we can, against the odds admittedly, do the job at the Camp Nou.

There seems to be a lot of talk about starting with Vela and Walcott as pacy wingers, but Vela has yet to find his feet, and I favour starting with Rosicky, off his best though he is, for his experience.

As with the first leg, we, as underdogs, have little to lose. The fact that we braved a terrifying assault and snatched a draw suggests it isn’t a lost cause by any means either. I hope the side go out on the day and give it their all; I, personally, won’t ask for more.

We know well, especially with this team, that it isn’t over till the Fat Lady packs her case up and leaves. Here’s to more of the same spirit come Tuesday.