Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal
Arsenal somehow came away from Anfield with all three points on Saturday, having been largely outplayed throughout the entire game, in which Liverpool twice hit the post and had a penalty wonderfully saved by Wojciech Szczesny. The Gunners showed great grit and determination to withstand the Liverpool onslaught and with Robin Van Persie in the side, always knew they stood a chance of stealing the victory. In the words of the relieved Dutchman, “we nicked it”.
With the ill-advised mid-week international friendlies, several Arsenal players such as Alex Song and Yossi Benayoun had only arrived back from international duty on the Friday morning before the game, while others such as Thomas Vermaelen had played for their national side, despite suffering from injury. It was no surprise therefore, that Liverpool looked the fresher of the two sides, especially in the first half, as they dominated possession. Arsenal’s midfield, who had performed so well against Tottenham the previous Sunday, looked rather lethargic and just could not impose themselves on the game, allowing Charlie Adam and Jay Spearing to control the midfield. After Arsenal had an early chance through Theo Walcott, whose first time cross shot was well saved by Reina, Liverpool began to create chance after chance. Szczesny had to rush out of goal to head the ball clear twice, after a long ball had been misjudged by Koscielny, before Sagna and Gibbs made last ditch clearances to deny Downing and Henderson respectively. The Gunners defence seemed incapable of dealing with the movement of Liverpool’s forward players, in particular Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez. It was a quick give and go between these two players, which enabled the Uruguayan to bear down on goal in the 18th minute. Out came Szczesny to close down the angle and Suarez, having lost control of the ball, after a heavy touch, took an elaborate tumble over the Polish goalkeeper. Referee Mark Halsey was clearly unsighted with Kuyt obstructing his view, however ridiculously still decided to award Suarez’s dive with a penalty. The second penalty in the space of a week awarded against the Gunners following a clear dive by the opposition player. I have since heard former Premiership referee Dermot Gallagher claim that both this penalty and the one given against Spurs were both correctly awarded in his opinion. Well if he really believes this, after having the benefit of several replays, then we should all be thankful that he has retired from refereeing as he is clearly not fit for the job.
Up stepped Kuyt to take the penalty but Szczesny produced a magnificent save to deny the Dutchman, diving low to his right. However the ball bounced straight back to Kuyt, who prodded it back towards the goal. Szczesny would not be denied; he leapt up, diving across the goal line to push the ball out for a corner. It was a wonderful double save from the young Pole.
His excellent efforts to preserve a clean sheet were to be undone in the 23rd minute however, as Arsenal allowed Henderson far too much time on the right wing to cross the ball into the box. Koscielny’s attempted clearance inadvertently skewed off his shin and flew into the back of the net to give the home side a deserved lead. Liverpool were rampant now and a few minutes later Henderson was free again on the right, while his shot was well saved by Szczesny, the rebound fell staright to Suarez whose shot hit the post, thanks to great covering work from Vermaelen as his presence forced Suarez to aim for the near post. Had that effort gone in, the game would have effectively been over. But surprisingly, in the 31st minute Arsenal were back on level terms, following an inch perfect cross from Sagna which found Van Persie in space to guide his header past Reina for the equaliser.
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| Szczesny saves Kuyt's penalty |
His excellent efforts to preserve a clean sheet were to be undone in the 23rd minute however, as Arsenal allowed Henderson far too much time on the right wing to cross the ball into the box. Koscielny’s attempted clearance inadvertently skewed off his shin and flew into the back of the net to give the home side a deserved lead. Liverpool were rampant now and a few minutes later Henderson was free again on the right, while his shot was well saved by Szczesny, the rebound fell staright to Suarez whose shot hit the post, thanks to great covering work from Vermaelen as his presence forced Suarez to aim for the near post. Had that effort gone in, the game would have effectively been over. But surprisingly, in the 31st minute Arsenal were back on level terms, following an inch perfect cross from Sagna which found Van Persie in space to guide his header past Reina for the equaliser.
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| Van Persie makes it 1-1 |
The Arsenal goal did not dampen Liverpool’s attacking play however and they continued to look extremely dangerous going forward as Arsenal’s midfield continued to struggle to gain and hold onto possession. Suarez squirmed through the Arsenal defence only to see his fine effort well saved by Szczesny and just before half time; Downing was this time allowed far too much space on the left flank, his low cross met by Kuyt who could only steer his effort against the far post. With the referee’s half time whistle, Arsenal breathed a huge sigh of relief. How they had managed to go in level at the break was a complete mystery.
In the second half, although Liverpool still enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession, their attacking threat was not as great as that in the first half. In fact they only had one clear cut effort, which was missed by Martin Kelley, as Arsenal’s defence appeared stronger and more resilient after the break. The Gunners also began to create chances of their own, Diaby (who had replaced the injured Arteta following a nasty collision with Henderson) fashioned a chance all by himself as he wriggled through only to see his effort easily saved. Then Gibbs’ run, in behind the Liverpool backline set up Walcott, but his shot deflected off a Liverpool defender and was saved by Reina. With the game entering into injury time and Liverpool seeming incapable of fashioning a goal scoring opportunity before fulltime, it appeared Arsenal would leave Anfield with a point. Alex Song and Robin Van Persie had other ideas. With two minutes of injury time already played, the Cameroon international lofted a wonderful ball to his Dutch team mate. As the ball sailed over the Liverpool defence, Van Persie peeled off Carragher, had a quick look to check Reina’s positioning, before skilfully steering the ball home at the near post, on the volley, with his instep. It was a sensational goal, worthy of winning any game.
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| Van Persie wins the game with a wonderful volley |
At the final whistle the Arsenal players' jubilation told its own story. They knew they had not deserved to win the game, but had somehow rode their luck and dug deep to take all three points. These victories often feel better than when you dominate the opposition and utterly humiliate them, say 5-2! The importance of the win was highlighted further on Sunday with Tottenham’s loss confirming Arsenal had now closed the gap to third place to four points. This is some achievement when you consider that a week ago, with 30 minutes of the game played against Tottenham, Arsenal were staring at a potential 13 point gap. There are still many difficult games left to play in the league, but this result should give Arsenal immense belief that they can withstand great pressure and still emerge victorious.
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| The Arsenal players celebrate Van Persie's winner |
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