Recovering from the shock of getting dumped out of the FA Cup to lowly league 1 side Oldham Athletic Brendan Rodgers made wholesale changes bringing in the more experienced first team regulars such as Reina and Johnson.
We made a very lively start when a unexpected slip by Sagna let in Glen Johnson down the left, the cross was miskicked by Arsenal capt Vermaelen which forced their keeper Szczesny into a smart save from Sturridge, Ramsey tried to flick the ball away but it fell to our sorcerer Suarez whose shot took a slight deflection off Mertesacker which comically wrong footed Szczesny and over the line for a fourth minute lead.
Arsenal almost produced an instant response from the kick off when Walcott got ahead of Jamie Carragher, but his snapshot was straight at Jose Reina.
The match remained continued to ebb from end to end, with Sturridge dragging an angled shot across the face of goal.
Arsenal also continued to pushed for an equaliser and Reina was again called into action as he turned a curling effort from Walcott magnificently around the post.
Our captain marvel Steven Gerrard then produced some excellent herculean defending as he hooked Lukas Podolski's cross through the six-yard box behind.
We almost made it 2-0 on 27 minutes when Szczesny flapped at but missed from a corner from the left and Daniel Agger's header was hacked off the line by Podolski.
Arsenal were forced into a change before half-time when Kieran Gibbs hobbled off and Brazil defender Andre Santos came on.
Szczesny, then attempted to do his impersonation of Johan Cruyff by trying to copy his infamous Cruyff turn but it went all wrong with us capitalising culminating with him rushing from his goal to close down Henderson on the left corner of the penalty area, but our hardworking midfielder with his improved fom recently chipped the ball onto the roof of the net - much to the relief of the backpedalling Poland goalkeeper.
The Gunners nestly equalised early in the second half when Podolski floated a pass from the left out to the far post, where Walcott arrived to head it just over.
It proved a costly miss as we extended our lead on the hour.
Henderson battled past Santos with amazing upper body strength and into the right side of the penalty area, before then holding off two more defenders. As the ball bounced back off Ramsey's boot, he coolly stroked the ball home past Szczesny to double our lead.
At 2-0 Arsenal needed to provide an instant response which they did from a right wing free kick from Wilshere straight onto striker Giroud's head for a first goal.
With us not having time to recover from the first goal Arsenal then preceded to equalise when Santi Cazorla worked the ball out on the right side of the penalty area to Giroud. His lay-off teed up Walcott just outside the six-yard box and the England forward lashed an angled drive across Reina into the far corner.
With the momentum totally with Arsenal now Walcott then curled a 20-yard effort just wide after running along the edge of the Liverpool box.
Our captain marvel Gerrard trying desperately to stamp his authority on the game again was very fortunate to only have been shown a yellow card by referee Kevin Friend after jumping in with his foot raised on Mertesacker very reminiscent of tackles he mis-timed in his younger days.
The 6ft 7in German was, though, soon up again as he headed a free-kick from Wilshere just over at the near post.
Reina saved at full stretch from Giroud as Arsenal looked for a late winner, with the Frenchman then scuffing an easy effort from close range.
Our last chance in the game saw Suarez's late strike just about turned away by Szczesny in stoppage time as a thrilling and enthralling encounter finally ended all square.
Kop-post man of the match - Jordan Henderson
Slowly making the attacking midfield slot his own with his intelligent running and constant hardwork for the team, this player has finally proved his doubters wrong and is showing the potential that Dalglish saw which prompted him to buy him at such a tender age.
Positives - We went to Emirates stadium with such a negative cup result to get over and showed character and belief for at least the first hour of this game.
Carragher showed the required defensive leadership qualities which were missing in the cup defeat and has now warranted a run in the side as Skrtel is out of form and does not display anywhere near the leadership qualities of our Carragher.
Negatives - We again threw away a 2 goal lead which has cost us a vital win, we had the exact same
situation facing us against Everton earlier in the season, we do not have the intestinal fortitude to secure wins against the stronger teams in the league and therefore have still not beaten a side hgher than us in the table.
Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs (Santos 37) , Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla, Walcott, Podolski, Giroud.
Subs not used: Mannone, Diaby, Koscielny, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jenkinson.
Booked: Cazorla, Giroud
Scorers: Giroud 64, Walcott 67.
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Carragher, Wisdom, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Downing, Suarez, Sturridge (Jose Enrique 71).
Subs not used: Jones, Allen, Borini, Sterling, Shelvey, Skrtel.
Booked: Gerrard.
Scorers: Suarez 5, Henderson 60
Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)
Attendance: 60,089
Thought we played well for an hour and it could quite easily have been three. Gerrard was blinding during that period as was Carragher, Suarez and Henderson. Wisdom showed a lot of strength and nice touches under pressure.
ReplyDeleteAfter Arsenal scored their first, thought he could have brought someone on ns the centre midfield to freshen things up as Wilshere was beginning to run in behind and through our midfield. Some woeful defending for the first goal, it just seems that from set pieces we lose concentration and don’t display enough determination to compete.
As text about Ince, personally I don’t think it’s be because FSG haven’t got the money, it’s because they’re loath to be held to ransom for player that was once on our books.
Yes it was very frustrating after going 2-0 up, we played very well, first half and Gerrerd and Suarez pretty much pulling everything in. But it was the first goal of Arsenal that they woke up.
ReplyDeleteReally thought we could have one this game, how much of a turning point this game would of meant for us....
I just hope Coutinho is not a waste of space and can add something special to our play.