There were persistent rumours about game fixing prior to the draw and match fixing after the draw which lead to some strange betting behaviour.
And the behaviour of the officials here didn’t do anything to disabuse conspiracy theorists.
There was an obvious penalty on Hleb when Kuyt pulled him down right in front of the Dutch referee. Was ref Pieter Vink from Noordwijkerhout, in ‘kerhouts’ with Dirk Kuyt born just three miles away?
Torres was blatantly offside twice and even handballed, but still no flag went up. He dived and won a free kick against Clichy and lost the respect of Arsenal fans for his antics during the game.
Arsenal though were sloppy. Eboue the epitomy of awfulness, losing it in various ways ten times, missing a sitter, and fans around were glad he went off, some booing him off.
The Arsenal starting line up cost around £24m; Torres £26m. It was a night when the team/stadium balance started to rankle. The starting team cost around one eighteenth of the stadium. At Highbury the team was always worth more than the stadium.
The feeling wasn’t exactly helped when I tried to get half a cup of hot water to go with some tea and was told:”We have to charge you for the water.”
Arsenal looked tired. Toure in particular. Adebayor has lost his early season sharpness. Arsenal missed Eduardo, as well as Rosicky and Sagna in this game.
The atmosphere wasn’t vibrant, more like an angry tension. Quite a few people were late due to transport problems and others tried to get in without tickets, delaying genuine ticket holders. Maybe a reaction to the ticket scam exposed by the Evening Standard. Empty seats abounded in the Liverpool section come kick-off.
After that Liverpool fans were a bit bouncy singing their pirate ditty. Arsenal replied with a rendition of: “Sign-on, sign-on…” and “…hoof the ball,” along with a couple of well know Arsenal songs.
Liverpool lined up in a defensive 4-3-2-1 with Torres the lone striker. Senderos came into the centre, with Toure switching to the right.
It was like playing a black blanket at times. First chance was when Adebayor ran past Reina in the corner, but lacked control and composure to knock it past.
Arsenal forced a couple of corners which were cleared, but on 20 Flamini sent a brilliant ball over the Liverpool defence which dropped on to Van Persie’s left, but as at Bolton, he opted for a first time shot, and his match shooting lacks co-ordination and he skied it. A little direction-shifter may well have scored.
Soon after Fabregas found Van Persie in space, but this time he didn’t connect, and although on target, Reina saved relatively easily.
Arsenal pressure mounted, and on 23, Fabregas and Van Persie fashioned a short corner with the Dutchman bending a ball which Adebayor guided unchallenged into the empty net. It is a while since Adebayor has scored, and a bit surreal. He’s a goal sequence player – so that may prove to be more valuable than it looks.
Two minutes later a bad rebound off Flamini, found Gerrard, running deep into the Arsenal area, and after beating Toure and Eboue, his dangerous cross found Kuyt and Clichy racing in, with the Dutchman getting the last touch, for that all important away goal.
It had the effect of dampening things. Arsenal hardly had a chance of note for the rest of the half. In fact Babel was the only player to test a goalkeeper in that period.
Van Persie’s departure for the rest of the game at half-time was met with disbelief from fans around. “Not again”, or some such thinking. But Theo Walcott was greeted with enthusiasm, most wanting him on for the inept Eboue.
Like at Bolton, Almunia kept Arsenal in the tie with a sharp save, low down, as Hypia won a knock down, for Kuyt to angle a shot.
Walcott, was troubling Carragher, who gave a foul away.
Soon after with the Liverpool defence back-pedalling he unleashed a piledriver just past Reina‘s post.
Liverpool showed their strength in depth and different attacking options as Benayoun replaced Babel, who said last year he’d play for Arsenal.
Fabregas from deep sent a brilliant ball for Adebayor ahead of the defence, but identical to Bolton, he was half a yard short.
Walcott was making a difference and from a dangerous cross, Eboue contrived to miss an inviting goal.
Following the double Dutch penalty denial, Eboue came off for Bendtner.
His first significant moment, which may stick with him for a while, was when Adebayor broke down the left and crossed. Fabregas poked it towards an open goal and Bendtner just followed the trajectory of the ball and accidently kicked it clear. Unlucky, but also clumsy, denying Arsenal a clear goal.
After that it was Arsenal attacking, and Liverpool absorbing, breaking occasionally, but when they did, were well marshalled by Gallas.
In the final three minutes Fabregas‘s effort seemed to epitomise the evening, good approach work, but a tired finish into the hands of Reina.
It looks like Arsenal will have to score twice at Anfield. Not out of the question, particularly as they deserve the same sort of luck as the winner at Bolton, unless of course the referee has a cahoots connection.
Arsenal: Manuel Almunia, Kolo Toure, Philippe Senderos, Gael Clichy, William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini, Emmanuel Eboue (Nicklas Bendtner 67) Alexander Hleb, Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin Van Persie (Theo Walcott 46) Subs not used: Jens Lehmann, Justin Hoyte, Abou Diaby, Alexandre Song, Gilberto
Liverpool: Jose Reina, Martin Skrtel, Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, Fabio Aurelio, Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso (Leiva Lucas 75) Javier Mascherano, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel (Yossi Benayoun 57) Fernando Torres (Andrei Voronin 86) Subs not used: Charles Itandje, Alvaro Arbeloa, John Riise, Peter Crouch
Referee: Pieter Vink