"And it's there! Vermaelen has won it in the last minute for Arsenal!"
In March 2012, Thomas Vermaelen scored a 95th-minute winner to beat Newcastle 2-1 at Emirates Stadium - a moment he now regards as one of his favourites in red and white.
"It's an unbelievable memory and one of those which I will never forget from my Arsenal career," the defender told our In Lockdown podcast.
"I think Newcastle were a direct rival as well for the Champions League spots. That was an important game for us and I think we were very close in points. If they won, they would have gone above us.
"It actually started from the back and I just remember going forward, not thinking. Luckily Theo crossed the ball and it just ended up in my feet. I didn't think, I just scored.
“The fans and the players were so happy and it’s one of the most important goals I scored in my Arsenal career. It was a nerve-racking time with the game against West Brom at the end of the season, but it's down to how the player copes.
"The build-up towards that game, you're building up tension and nerves. I think it's more nerve-wracking for the fans, the staff or the players on the bench who can't influence the game. When you're on the pitch and the whistle goes, you're focused on your game and the nerves go.
"It's more before the game that you realise how important the game is for everyone. Once the game is on, you just focus on that and try to do as well as you can."
Make sure you don't miss an episode by subscribing to 'In Lockdown' now on the following platforms:
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
