I was scrabbling around trying to find my membership card before heading for the ground yesterday. It’s somewhere, but god alone knows where. Things are a bit chaotic at home and indeed work at the moment. And the damned thing could be at either place. It’ll turn up. The Highbury Spy had changed my seat in 2007 (for reasons it would take a Fever Pitch length explanation to fully relay) and I was issued a new card. But a couple of times in 2007/08 I used my old membership card and it was still working. So I grabbed that assuming it would still get me in, only to find it has now been blocked. Unfortunately, I discovered this at about 7.44pm last night!

So I missed the first 25 minutes of the game. I also learned that it now costs £10 instead of a fiver to get a replacement paper ticket, and that when you are issued the paper ticket you don’t even get your own seat! As it turns out no-one was in mine, so I don’t think I’ve just dropped it somewhere. But there was a bonus of sorts. As I was late getting in, I was able to sit five rows from the front of the upper tier on the halfway line. By that time it’s obvious where the non-attendees’ seats are.

I heard the roar for Theo’s opener and listened to an account of it on the radio. The words failed to do it justice. It was a sublime chip after a great Cesc back heel. Why can’t Theo finish and cross with such accuracy more often? I hope this will come, but it kills you knowing the lad is capable of such greatness, yet we see it all too rarely. Still, his contribution against Villarreal was telling and it will be interesting to see who the manager picks on Saturday against Chelsea.

Up front, Robin van Persie played in the Bergkamp role behind Adebayor. It certainly seemed to work last night, so if the manager retains them against Chelsea, my guess is that Nasri will be sacrificed for Arshavin. What I do hope is that Wenger plays his strongest team for the semi-final. As far back as 2003, he’s not done that, but do you believe that he might select Bendtner for this game? History suggests yes, but surely he’s taking the competition more seriously this year?

Even if Europe is the priority, it should be remembered that there are over ten days between the Chelsea semi and the first leg at Old Trafford. And the FA Cup Final itself is on the Saturday after the Champions League final. The manager has to go for it by picking the strongest side he can and if need be rotate for the visit to Anfield next week. If Adebayor and/or Van Persie are on the bench with the Dane starting at Wembley, there will be serious anger amongst Gooners before the game’s even started.

Back to the quarter final second leg, and Villarreal were disappointing, which suited the home crowd fine. The story of the game was simply that they missed their key injured men a lot more than Arsenal. Of the Gunners’ first choice back five, only one was available. But in truth, they were rarely tested. Was this a case of the home team playing wonderful containing football or the visitors simply not turning up? I suspect it was more a case of the latter, but frankly, I don’t care. It’s nice to have an easy game sometimes, even when you least expect it.

The Spanish side came close a couple of times in the first half, and as long as the score was 1-0, there was always a danger of the tie turning. But the tension I anticipated never materialized. Arsenal controlled most of the game and credit to them for that. I think it did help having experience up front and Fabregas beginning to look like the player he was before his injury as match fitness returns.

The reception for Robert Pires was warm, and rightly so. He didn’t poop the party due to the inability of his team-mates to get going. It must have been strange for him. It was a kind of return home, but then again it wasn’t. He never played in the new stadium, so it was really just a reunion with his public of six years. The book put together by REDaction was presented to him at the training session at the stadium the night before the game and apparently Robert was absolutely stunned, but incredibly pleased.

The progress Arsenal have made since the awful period at the end of January has been marked. There have been hiccups, such as the dip in the first hour against Wigan, but that the team have weathered these and come good is key. It has set them up for big matches against teams they know they have the beating of, regardless of their star names. Of course the defence will be a concern against Chelsea, but Saturday’s opponents seem to have developed problems of their own in that department, and won’t be relishing facing Arsenal’s attack.

Wenger has nursed a young team through a difficult season. The suspicion is that it probably had to be this way for money reasons. People, not least myself, got very frustrated at the apparent lack of quality both in terms of basic skills and character, and some of the points lost in the league this season still haunt. Out of the ashes of those nightmare experiences against the likes of Spurs and Stoke, has the manager forged a team capable of bringing pots back to the club like the old days? We won’t have to wait long to find out…