Liverpool v. Arsenal 1-2 13/Dec/09

Childish defending gave Liverpool the lead
[Photo: Ian Hodgson via Daily Mail]


This time the "kamikaze football" had to wait as the Gunners finished the Merseyside team in "two halves". The Gunners are assuring a reputation of something like Jekyll and Hyde: sublime attacking prowess with tremendous effective goal-scoring abilities against dismal and depleted lack defending talent. Even when the key word for a successful run of games is consistency and considering external factors -such as injuries- permeate in the final decision it is imperious that the form is sustained.
Whether the halftime rant Wenger gave to his players was as surprise, it seemed to have the effect needed. Maybe one of those techniques from Football Manager really works.



[Photo: Tim Hales/Associated Press via Guardian]


In the "first half" the Liverdpudlians were very much abusing the young visiting team. The first attempt came from a link between Torres and Gerrard, which the Spaniard wasted. Another one came from Liverpool's main striker which ended in Gerrard blatantly diving at the feet of William Gallas. The hectic start of the match was combined with the inability of the visiting defence to cover the spaces left by the defence. Instead Torres kept terrorising the London back over and over, when the twentieth miute mark was approaching.
The hostility that the Gunners put was by far one of the poorest that we had seen in the season: flops, pass misses, poor challenges, no attacking dimension at all. With fifteen minutes to go the threat proposed by the home team was a real worry. Within a space of ten minutes the Reds managed to put their counterparts agaisnt the wall, mainly through the incursions of Glen Johnson. Not a single attacking chance came from the Londoners as the match wore off.
The first attempt was a weak driver from Nasri, in the 36th minute. Obviously Liverpool's efforts paid bountiful dividends within five minutes: Almunia made one of his common timid approaches to the ball and Dirk Kuyt tipped to get the ball in the back of the net after hitting a couple of legs.



Andrey Arshavin, again the saviour as the last season.
[Photo: Getty Images via Soccernet]


Following the late lead and the desperate measures that Wenger took, the Gunners went out with renovated spirits for the second half. Luckily enough for the visitors, the leveller came pretty fast after nearly seven minutes of game. Before Johnson's own goal, the threat of Torres set up several chances for the Gunner defence. The momentum that Liverpool had during the first ten minutes of the first half, was exchanged by the fierce and aggressive style Wenger's men deployed.
The lead came, as Andrey Arshavin grabbed a lost ball before striking it in Reina's net, with a reminiscence of that 4-goal salvo last season. If there was a moment in which the Liverpudlians could have closed the gap it was when Howard Webb booked two Arsenal players for a couple of fair challenges.
As the match wore off and two substitutions were made, the current result was likely to stay due to the absence of a decision by the Liverpool squad. Two more injuries, near the end of the game arrived to the already-depleted London squad. When Sylvestre and Ramsey came in there was a sense of an achievement by many of the visiting players. The final whistle - which came after five minutes of injury time instead of the announced four - was a relief to many supporters and at this stage of the tournament.