Liverpool 3 Arsenal 6
Liverpool 3 Arsenal 6 ??????
The most surreal Arsenal game I’ve ever seen !
It was a match both managers wanted to lose – and Rafa Benitez lost it 6-3.
The first 25 minutes were dull.
The highlight of that period was a bungled free-kick by Baptista and Toure in the 4th minute.
Baptista tried to roll the ball to Toure but the Brazilian was paying more attention to the referee than to where Toure was, and by the time he rolled the ball, Toure was on his heels, so he had to tackle Fowler for a 50-50 ball. Which Toure didn’t get and Liverpool broke away. A carnival of incompetence, a masterpiece of misunderstanding. If they practiced doing it all wrong for three days they would never be able do it as badly again
For Arsenal fans, bizarre to see Aliadiere, Baptista and Song all scoring in the same match. Who would have put money on that after their previous performances ?
For Liverpool, everything went wrong and they had Mark Gonzalez and his replacement Luis Garcia carried off on stretchers in 10 and 75 minutes.
The Gonzalez injury meant that the first half lasted 50 minutes
JEREMIE ALIADIERE had his best-ever game, showing exemplary movement, touch and intelligence. He scored the first goal himself from a straight pass down the middle by Toure. He pulled the ball down beautifully and hit Dudek with the shot and stabbed in the rebound.
When Baptista lost the ball carelessly at one end, Liverpool broke, Song made a stupid foul, and Aurelio hit a good free-kick which Almunia parried to his right.Luis Garcia hooked it square and Robbie Fowler flicked in for 1-1. Fowler always scores against Arsenal, as you know.
BAPTISTA then hit a superb free-kick over the wall for 2-1 and you thought, “Crikey! Maybe The Beast isn’t a paper tiger after all !”
On 47, Dudek flapped at a corner and the ball hit Hyypia’s thigh and went in off Song’s arm for 3-1.The Pole is a confidence player and his confidence was in shreds after that FA Cup defeat where he should have done better on goals 2 and 3.
Then Baptista played a nice ball through to Aliadiere, who was only two feet offside, and the Frenchman gave him a tap-in for an incredible half-time score of Liverpool 1 Arsenal 4.
IF NOTHING happened after that, it was still the most surreal Arsenal game I’ve ever seen.
Second half, 57 minutes, Hyppia brought Aliadiere down, Baptista hit a rubbish penalty and Dudek saved it.
Three minutes later, Fabregas hit a probing 60-yard ball from the left back position – Effenberg, eat your heart out ! – and Aliadiere worked it well and played an ultra-precise square pass for Baptista to rifle a low shot into the bottom corner from outside the D.
A typically awesome Gerrard strike made it 5-2, Diaby came on for a welcome appearance for Walcott in 74, Almunia saved from Gerrard, then on 80 minutes a left wing cross by centreback Paletta was headed in by Hyypia for 5-3.
But on 84 Aliadiere zoomed onto another long ball on the right, destroyed Paletta, and gave Baptista another tap-in for 6-3.
What else ? Almunia’s handling was great, Toure and Djourou were magnificent, and Hoyte had Bellamy in his pocket all night..
CLEARLY, you couldn’t call this Carling quarter-final a nine-goal thriller because it was 4-1 at half time.It was just strange. As I said, surreal. Seriously surreal. Baptista’s touch and passing were poor at times and he missed a penalty ….but he scored four goals.
Before the game most Gooners said two semis against Spurs would be inconvenient, a nuisance.
After this it’s : Cardiff, here we come !
Tottenham in two games ? Bring ’em on !
LIVERPOOL ?
Will Sheikh Maktoum want to buy the club after Rafa’s last two fiascos?
Rick Parry must be crapping himself.
LIVERPOOL (4-4-2): Dudek; Peltier, Paletta, Hyypia, Warnock (Alonso, 58); Guthrie, Gerrard, Aurelio, Gonzalez (Garcia, 10; Carragher, 74); Fowler, Bellamy.
Subs not used: Reina (gk), Crouch.
ARSENAL (4-4-2): Almunia; Hoyte, Touré, Djourou, Traoré (Connolly, 88); Walcott (Diaby, 73), Fabregas, Song, Denilson; Baptista, Aliadière.
Subs not used: Poom (gk), Lansbury, Randall.