Right from the off Liverpool
were all over Arsenal. They had all the possession, were working the ball
nicely and spending a fair bit of time in Arsenal’s final third. The only
problem was an admittedly major one; clear cut chances were at a premium, and
we had no out and out finisher on the pitch. Throughout the game this was a
problem – Coutinho did manage to bag one goal, but most of his efforts were
scuffed or dragged wide. Lucas also had a couple of shots from good positions
that failed to test Szczesny. However, by dominating the game this much it was
only a matter of time before Liverpool got
their goal, and it came in the 45th minute. Coutinho’s aim was true
this time, and he guided it in off the post after shimmying wonderfully past
his man.
In typical Liverpool
fashion, we threw away what looked to be a comfortable position within seconds
through poor defending at a set piece. Gerrard tripped up Sanchez, who’s
subsequent free kick was kept alive because of Sakho and Toure getting in each
other’s way. The ball found it’s way over to the far post, where Skrtel failed
to even get off the ground, thus allowing his man Debuchy to get his head to
the ball. Brad Jones epitomised his talents by standing and watching as the
ball flew into a distinctly saveable area, and thus we somehow went into the
break with the scores at 1-1. Although this goal was much more the fault of
Skrtel than Jones, it is absolutely ridiculous that the Australian continues to
be played ahead of Mignolet. Of course Mignolet isn’t perfect, but he is a good
shot stopper, and that has bailed us out more than once this season. Jones
would struggle to get into most Championship sides, and if Rodgers continues to
play him to prove some sort of point to Mignolet then Liverpool
will pay the price.
Twenty minutes into the second half and the situation
worsened again. It truly beggared belief; the opening twenty of the second
period was all Liverpool once again, yet
somehow they found themselves behind on 64 minutes. This time it was Giroud who
got the goal, slamming Cazorla’s cross (which somehow found its way between
Skrtel and Toure) through the legs of Jones. Rodgers rolled the dice soon after
this, bringing on Borini and then Lambert to try and get the equaliser, Lambert
had no impact whatsoever, to the point where I forgot he was on the pitch from
time to time. Borini certainly had an impact, but not a good one. After not
being given a throw-in which admittedy should have gone his way he got booked
for dissent, and minutes later he was off after a high foot on Cazorla. The
situation looked bleak – the ten men of Liverpool
had just 9 minutes (the stoppage time was long due to an earlier head injury
for Skrtel) to find a goal to bring them level. Despite having an extra man,
Arsenal continued to sit back and absorb the pressure. This cost them dearly,
as one of the corners they conceded was finally capitalised on by Liverpool . The goal was very reminiscent of last season:
a good ball came in from the corner, and Skrtel charged forward to meet it with
his head and rocket it past a helpless Szczesny.
Whilst it was obviously relieving not to leave this game
with nothing, the match will surely be viewed in hindsight as two points
dropped. The attack were excellent all game apart from the finishing (Sturridge
and Balotelli were both out, so this is understandable), but they were let down
by an awful defence. At least the attack are now looking much more like last
season than they were; if they can continue to cause opposition as many
problems as they caused Arsenal, the top 4 begins to look a much more
achievable goal.
-James Martin
Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013
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