News

Junior Gunner spends day with media team

Nik Brumsack and Owen

Thirteen-year-old Owen Webster from Bristol spent Saturday's win against Norwich City as part of the media after he became the second Junior Gunner to win our Young Reporter competition this season.

Before the game, Owen was given a behind the scenes tour of the media area, including access to the tunnel area and the interview booths where Arsenal Media, BBC and Sky Sports do their stuff.

Owen was even able to meet Arsene Wenger when the manager popped in for his pre-match interview!

He watched the game from the press seats with the Arsenal.com reporters, getting a first-hand look at how they keep supporters up-to-date with all the  action on a match day.

After the final whistle, Owen headed for the press conference room with the other attending media to get the boss' take on the game, before hurrying over to the mixed zone, where he watched an interview with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

You can read his report from the day below.

By Owen Webster

A spirited Arsenal comeback saw them score three goals in the final seven minutes to seal an important 3-1 win over Norwich City and rise to third place in the Premier League.

Michael Turner's header put the Canaries in front in the 56th minute, but just as the game seemed lost Mikel Arteta converted a penalty after Olivier Giroud was brought down in the box. Minutes later, Giroud prodded home from close range before Lukas Podolski thumped the ball home to confirm the 3-1 victory.

Arsenal Wenger's side knew the importance of the clash – a win would see them climb to third with upcoming games against Everton and Fulham before rivals Tottenham Hotspur play again. This would put them in pole position to qualify for next season's Champions League, but for the majority of the match it looked like Norwich had pipped the Gunners to the points.

Chances for Arsenal in the opening exchanges were few and far between –  Giroud came closest as his header struck the bar from Bacary Sagna's cross, while Mark Bunn denied him under similar circumstances on another occasion. Santi Cazorla’s shot from outside the box was saved comfortably by the 'keeper and this was all the hosts had to show for their early dominance as the sides went in level at half time.

However, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock shortly before the hour mark. Kei Kamara came into contact with Kieran Gibbs, which led to a free-kick just to the right of the box that was dispatched perfectly by Robert Snodgrass. An unmarked Michael Turner was on hand to divert the ball goalwards to put Norwich 1-0 up.

Dogged defending from the visitors made it hard for the Gunners to work their way back into the game. The real turning point in the second half arrived with the introduction of Theo Walcott, Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who added a fresh injection of pace that Arsenal had lacked in the encounter beforehand. They finally found a breakthrough in the 85th minute with a penalty that was hotly disputed by the Norwich following. The corner came in from the right hand side and after a tussle in the box it appeared that Oliver Giroud had been brought down by Kei Kamara. Mikel Arteta, not there to complain, cooly converted the penalty to level the scoreline.

The momentum had completely changed following the goal and barely three minutes had passed when Giroud put the Gunners in front. Oxlade-Chamberlain played a one-two with Podolski before squaring inside the six-yard box where Giroud poked the ball into the net from point-blank range to make the score 2-1.

The result was confirmed in the 92nd minute when Podolski extended Arsenal's lead with an excellent finish from the edge of the box into the bottom corner. Giroud flicked the ball onto Walcott, who seemed to be in an offside position, before Walcott passed to Podolski. The German thumped the ball into the corner of the net in excellent fashion, rounding off an eventful afternoon at the Emirates stadium.

Arsenal lie third in the table with 59 points and six games remaining, including Everton at home this Tuesday and a trip to St James' Park on the final day of the season. Champions League qualification is now well within their grasp and the Gunners look favourites to achieve just that if they can keep their superb run of form going.