The hosts dominated throughout and, after Wojciech Szczesny denied Dirk Kuyt from the spot, an own goal from Laurent Koscielny handed Dalglish's side the lead. Wenger's men persevered though and stole all three points at the death to leave Liverpool ten points behind their fourth placed rivals, albeit with a game in hand.
With Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger and Steven Gerrard all out to due injury, Martin Kelly, Jamie Carragher and Jay Spearing were brought into the starting line-up, Carragher captaining the side. Meanwhile, Dirk Kuyt, who was so nearly a Wembley hero after netting what seemed destined to be an extra-time winner against Cardiff, replaced Andy Carroll in Dalglish's starting eleven.
Injured skipper Steven Gerrard paraded the Carling Cup prior to kick-off and, buoyed by the fact that it was only six days rather than six years since they last won a trophy, Liverpool began in the ascendancy and went on to comprehensively control the first half, creating countless chances yet frustratingly struggling to convert them.
Nevertheless, the first chance fell to Theo Walcott after a perfectly weighted pass from Mikel Arteta found the 22-year old in a threatening position. He fired across goal but fortunately Reina managed to get a firm hand to the ball and prevent the Gunners' number 14 bagging an early opener in front of the Kop.
From that point on it was all Liverpool. On nine minutes Reina's punt forward put Suarez through on goal but Szczesny came out bravely to head clear and Kuyt flashed a half volley over the bar from the rebound. Downing then bore down on goal but was denied by a last ditch tackle, before referee Mark Halsey rightly awarded the Reds' a spot kick after Suarez was tripped in the box by Szczensy.
Considering his abysmal penalty against Cardiff City in the Carling Cup final, it was laughable but worrying when Adam initially picked up the ball to take the spot kick. Thankfully, Dirk Kuyt persuaded the former Blackpool playmaker to allow the ever-reliable Dutchman to take the penalty instead. Annoyingly, though, Szczesny thwarted Kuyt's unspectacular spot kick and then made a tremendous save from his follow up effort.
It was embarrassingly Liverpool's eighth penalty miss of the season, which is a startling statistic considering the Reds' usual German-esque efficiency from the spot that was displayed at Wembley last weekend. We can only hope that Gerrard, who is unquestionably the team's best penalty taker despite Tom Heaton's world class save from his spot kick in the Cup final, returns to fitness soon and starts tucking penalties away.Liverpool didn't have to wait long to take the lead, though, as moments later French defender Laurent Koscielny comically turned Henderson's low cross into his own net. It was no more than what the Reds deserved after a high-tempo, attack-minded opening to the contest. Not content to rest on their laurels, the home side pushed for a second and very nearly found it a minute later when Suarez hit the post after the keeper palmed away Henderson's effort on goal.
On the half hour mark, Arsenal struck back against the run of play. Liverpool left back Jose Enrique allowed Bacary Sagna far too much space to whip a fantastic cross into the danger area, where Van Persie clinically headed home to equalise for the visitors.
Despite the away side's leveller, Liverpool remained on top and ended the half pressurising the Londoners and attempting to quickly regain the lead.Five minutes before the break Suarez brilliantly beat three Arsenal defenders in the area in a fashion resembling his solo slalom to set up Dirk Kuyt's opener in the Reds' 3-1 victory over Manchester United almost a year ago. Unfortunately, his top-quality approach play didn't get the goal it warranted, as the on-form Szczesny turned his shot round the post.
Skrtel's towering header went just over from the resulting corner and Kuyt hit the post on the stroke of half time, as the home supporters ate their pies at the interval pleased with their team's performance but frustrated at their forward's finishing (or lack thereof) and the opposition keeper's form, which was the only factor giving Arsenal a chance of claiming something from the clash.
Soon after the restart, ex-Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta went down after a collision with Jordan Henderson. With a touch of typical class, Liverpool supporters joined the Arsenal fans in applauding the Spaniard as he left the action on a stretcher to be replaced by Abou Diaby.
The 25-year old made an instant impact, forcing Reina to gather the ball after firing low to his left. At that point, Arsenal were tentatively coming into the tie and enjoying slightly more possession. Mid-way through the second period Carra had to make an important clearance after Rosicky's inviting ball floated across the face of the Reds' goal. Nonetheless, Liverpool still remained a threat and squandered a fine opportunity to reclaim the lead 21 minutes from time. Kuyt played a delightful cross into the heart of the Arsenal area and Kelly had an open goal to tap into but lamentably he fluffed his lines at the critical point and the gilt-edged chance had disappeared.
Reina was called back into action to impressively save with his feet when Walcott's deflected strike flew goalwards, as the closing stages developed an end-to-end feel, with neither side seemingly prepared to settle for a point. Reina denied Walcott again on 79 minutes as the Reds' keeper collected the England winger's header, before Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain replaced Diaby, who departed from the action after only 28 minutes.
During the eight minutes of injury time that had been added on to compensate for the time lost waiting for Arteta to be safely escorted from the pitch, Van Persie struck a devastating late winner. Song's exquisite lofted pass picked out Van Persie, who fired a world-class volley past Reina at his near post to nick a cheeky winner for the Gunners and break Red hearts.
The statistics show Liverpool's superiority. Despite Arsenal's reputation as pass masters, the Reds claimed 54% possession and took 12 corners compared to the visitors' zero. The hosts' 12 shots on target were two more than Arsenal achieved, although only four of those were on target and none found the back of the net as the Merseysiders had to rely on an own goal to find the back of Szczesny's net. Ultimately, the season-long problem of lacking the ability to score goals came back to haunt Liverpool yesterday and Kenny Dalglish will, in all likelihood, spend his 61st birthday today lamenting our lack of goals and attempting to construct a solution to our goalscoring woes. In the long term another striker will almost certainly have to be purchased, but in the short term Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez must rediscover their shooting boots, and their teammates could do with digging theirs out as well.
Yesterday was a six-pointer and the defeat hands the Reds the double blow of dropping points and seeing one of their main rivals for Champions League qualification acquiring a crucial three points.
In the coming weeks a cutting edge has to be introduced, otherwise Liverpool will be lagging behind the pack for the rest of the season.
YNWA
No comments:
Post a Comment