[Liverweb] Arsenal Match Report

Liverweb Match Report

Arsenal 2 Liverpool 1

Liverpool : Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Warnock, Alonso,
Gerrard, Hamann, Kromkamp, Garcia, Crouch

Subs Used : Kewell for Kromkamp (45), Fowler for Hamann (73)

Subs Unused : Dudek, Traore, Morientes

Ref : Steve Bennett

Att : 38,221

Sent Off - Xabi Alonso

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The Reds slumped to a late 2-1 defeat in their last ever visit to
Highbury. Arsenal were the better side over the full course of the
game but the Reds had battled to get back in to the game again at 1-
1. However a Red card for Xabi Alonso change the context of the game
and when Steven Gerrard played a back pass to Thierry Henry the game
was gone.

The Reds came to Highbury on the back of the Champions League exit
hoping to get a win over Arsenal. The home side got the game
underway and were by far the better side. The Reds first opportunity
for the Reds came on two minutes when Finnan crossed in for Crouch
but the ball was nicked off his feet. Arsenal were up for this one
and they were passing the ball about really well. On three minutes
they carved the Reds wide open but Henry's cross shot went straight
to Reina.

On seven minutes Henry exposed Hyypia for a lack of pace and charged
down their right hand side before cutting the ball back to Adebayor.
Thankfully though the striker spooned his shot over the bar. From
the resultant goal kick Reina made a hash of his clearance and then
Warnock played an even worse ball back to him. That is apart from
the fact it was so bad it flew out for a corner.

The Reds simply weren't at the races and were struggling to get hold
of the ball and do anything with it. They did create one decent
chance on fourteen minutes however when Warnock played a cross in to
the near post for Garcia but the ball just evaded him and hit
Lehmann instead. Arsenal were then forced in to a change as
Ljungberg went off to be replaced by Pires.

Arsenal took the lead on twenty minutes through Thierry Henry and it
was a class goal. Fabregas split the Reds' back line open and after
Carragher just couldn't quite get the ball Henry was free and bent a
great shot past Reina to the back post. It was a goal the home side
deserved on the balance of play really. After this they did continue
to create chances but they weren't clinical enough when it really
came down to it. This would give the Reds hope and they slowly got
in to the game more.

Peter Crouch should have equalised just before the half hour mark
when Finnan crossed in to the box. The tall striker was unchallenged
in the box but couldn't direct a decent header on goal. The Reds
nearly paid heavily for that minutes later when the home side carved
the Reds open again. They just tried to be too clinical and ended up
too close to Reina. Eboue had to square the ball which allowed
Finnan in to blast the ball clear.

Luis Garcia had a chance on thirty five minutes and once again it
was a Finnan cross that provided the chance. The ball went to the
back post where Garcia volleyed over the bar. On thirty eight
minutes there was a moment of panic went through me as Kolo Toure
flew through the air to get to a ball before Warnock. Toure got
their first and thankfully got no contact with the player. This was
a woeful tackle that he got away with because the ball was just too
far in front of Warnock. Yet it was Warnock who the crowd booed for
some reason.

The Reds needed a change at half time as the system wasn't quite
working fluidly enough and we needed to score at some point as well.
Harry Kewell came off the bench to replace Kromkamp. The Reds got
the game underway again and tried to go at Arsenal more which was
better to see. At the other end though Arsenal threatened to pick
the Reds off on the counter attack. Henry went clean through on
fifty three minutes but shot straight at the keeper. A minute later
and Adebayor was in but his pull down allowed Hyypia a chance to get
in and nick the ball away.

The Reds were starting to get a good hold in to the game now and
pass the ball about but we weren't threatening the keeper much.
Bergkamp replaced Adebayor on sixty seven minutes and within a
minute had a chance of scoring but he skied his shot over the bar.
Robbie Fowler came on after seventy three minutes as the Reds looked
to push on. He replaced Hamann which allowed the Reds to play more
of a 442 formation. About a minute after the change and the Reds
were level. Arsenal cried for a free kick as Fabregas lost his
balance. Alonso jumped in and gave the ball to Gerrard who hit a
great shot on goal. Lehmann punched the ball up in to the air and
Garcia followed up quickest to head home.

The Reds grew from the goal and looked to build on the goal and
maybe even win it. Xabi Alonso picked up a booking on seventy six
minutes as he was late on Fabregas. It was a genuine attempt but it
was a touch late. Garcia went close with a volley on seventy nine
minutes off a Kewell cross but the speed was taken away from Flamini
getting in the way and it dropped to Lehmann.

On eighty one minutes the game was turned upside down as Alonso was
sent off. Senderos went to clear a ball and did so. As he cleared it
Alonso fell over and accidentally hit Senderos. The referee turned
round and thought there must have been foul play and showed a second
yellow card. This was a shocking decision from a referee clearly
looking the other way and reacting to crowd noise. This simply must
get rescinded although why the linesman never intervened I don't
know. The lino after all seemed to be level with the incident.

Within two minutes of the sending off the Reds were behind again. A
shocking back pass from Gerrard went straight to Henry who rounded
Reina and scored. Getting back in to the game had been hard enough
but now we were down to ten men there was no way back. Arsenal had a
couple of chances to even make it three one but Pires hit the post
late on and Reina saved an Henry free kick in the final minute.

As the final whistle blew it was disappointment ultimately. Arsenal
had played well but failed to finish chances off. A bit like the
Reds in general really. It gave us a chance to get back in to the
game and when we did you actually thought we could sneak a win even.
Then came the sending off which changed the course of the game. We
then conceded a poor second goal to cap off a bad end to the game.

MotM : Jose Reina - did well and not really at fault for either
goal. However his commanding of the box and speed off the line
helped to keep the score down and gave us a chance.

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Match Stats
Arsenal Liverpool
48% Possession 52%
5 Shots On Target 3
7 Shots Off Target 5
0 Blocked Shots 0
5 Corners 0
10 Fouls 16
6 Offsides 2
0 Yellow Cards 2
0 Red Cards 1

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