2014 FA Cup Final: Arsenal vs Hull City

Match Breakdown

On a balmy, cloudy Saturday at Wembley, the 2014 FA Cup Final between Arsenal (The Gunners) and Hull City (The Tigers) would produce the highest scoring match for nearly a decade and a dramatic comeback that would be sealed in extra-time. Arsene Wenger's team were under a lot of pressure to win a trophy as the club had infamously underachieved since their last triumphant FA Cup win in 2005. Year upon year, sports journalists alongside everyday fans would spout similar opinions about the lack of determined characters or bad transfer signings that Wenger had been making in the subsequent seasons after that victory on penalties over Manchester United. Now though, Arsenal were making a record-equalling 18th appearance in the Final and were clear favourites after yet another successful top-4 finish in the Premier League.

Hull City, in their unique black and yellow striped kit, would be at the opposite end of the spectrum as they were looking forward to their first ever FA Cup Final appearance. Often disregarded over the years as a downtrodden area on the East coast of Yorkshire that had seen it's best days, the football team had been a shining light for the local population in recent times. An upturn in investment from wealthy but controversial Egyptian Chairman, Assem Allam, has provided The Tigers with an influx of talented British footballers whilst manager Steve Bruce had now amassed a lot of experience as a manager after a successful playing career.

The 'Road to the Final' was also polarised for both teams. All The Gunners' ties had drawn them as the home team albeit facing top-flight rivals, including arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur, in three of the four matches before facing holders Wigan Athletic in the semi-final. In contrast, Hull had been drawn their first three ties away from the KC Stadium but perhaps with easier tasks against lower-league opposition until meeting Sunderland at home in the quarter-final. An 8-goal thriller against Sheffield United in their semi-final had set them up nicely for big day whilst Arsenal had needed a penalty shootout to surpass The Latics in reaching Wembley.

The selected line-ups were of no surprise to the commentators of the match as Arsenal's long-term injured striker Theo Walcott would be a watching spectator alongside fellow injury-prone attacker Oxlade-Chamberlain. Hull's Premier League strike partnership of Jelavic and Long had been scoring the goals to stave off any relegation worries. However, both players were cup-tied from playing in the competition for their previous clubs which gave unfancied squad player Matty Fryatt a welcoming pick as the Hull centre-forward for this showpiece occasion.

As referee Lee Probert whistled to start the match at the odd kick-off time of 17:00, little did the watching public know that the first ten minutes of the match would turn out to be so dramatic. The magic began to occur in fourth minute when the ginger-haired Quinn struck a corner-kick towards the edge of the Arsenal area for the awaiting Tom Huddlestone to strike on the volley. Not quite connecting perfectly but with enough touch to give the ball some pace, the resultant shot found Welsh defender James Chester unmarked just outside the six-yard box and his neat flick bobbled across Fabianski and into the far corner of the net. The Hull fans went crazy and their energy seemed to transfer to the players on the pitch who would unbelievably produce a second goal mere minutes after the first.

Elmohamady crossed a free-kick into the Arsenal box and the ball was headed away but not very far as Quinn picked it up and skilfully dribbled past Ramsey on the left before clipping the ball back into the box again. The manager's son, Alex Bruce, outleaped his marker and powerfully headed the ball down towards the goal where Fabianski parried it into the path of Hull captain Curtis Davies. Davies could hardly belive his luck as he calmly stroked the ball into the far corner of the net to put his team 2 – 0 up after only eight minutes.

Arsenal needed something special to get back into the match as soon as possible and Santi Cazorla provided it when his fantastic free-kick from nearly 30 yards curled pefectly over the Hull City wall and into the top-right corner of McGregor's net. The game was poised nicely but a mixture of nerves and indecisiveness then seemed to take hold of the players as the frenzy of goals had maybe happened too quickly. The Gunners kept possession until half-time as neither side threatened again for the remainder.

Cue the second forty-five minutes and it was plainly obvious from the beginning that Wenger had told his team to go out and grab an equaliser no matter what. The Arsenal quick-passing style that we were so used to seeing was in force and all Hull could do was keep tight and compact and try not to sit too deep. It felt inevitable that the natural interplay between Ozil, Cazorla and Giroud would eventually reap it's reward but, in the 71st minute, it was an unlikely hero who popped up to score the equaliser for the men fron North London. French centre-back Koscielny was in the right place at the right time to bundle the ball over the Hull goal-line after fellow French defender Bacary Sagna knocked down a header from a corner-kick.

With the score deadlocked after 90 minutes, the FA Cup Final went into extra-time for the first time in eight years. Steve Bruce's tactics to produce high-energy level from his players had worked to an extent but now his workmanlike defence and midfield started to flag and Arsenal just kept attacking and attacking to try and score the vital goal. As the clock reached 109 minutes of football played, Welshman Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal's player of the season) fulfilled the dreams of his adoring fans as his prodded first-time strike from a Giroud backheel flew into the bottom of the net. The celebrations were wild as Arsenal had finally completed their comeback and, despite good late chances for Hull's Sone Aluko, ended their trophy drought at last.