Liverpool vs. Arsenal review

In any given season, there are three away games that an Arsenal fan looks forward to with both anticipation and dread. A trip to the other three of the so-called top four of the erstwhile EPL is inevitable as it is exciting. There is always a sense of expectation, the feeling that Arsenal should win. And there is the dreading of facing the taunts in the case of a poor performance by the team. That, however, was not the case yesterday.

In yesterday's game against Liverpool, Arsenal played like the league leaders that they are. It was out of sheer luck and the superhuman efforts of a single man on the pitch for Liverpool, the ubiquitous Gerrard that got them a point. A point which they did just enough to earn.

Right from the start, Liverpool were under pressure, and in a way, quite lucky to earn the free-kick that lead to their first and only goal of the match. Fabregas fouled Alonso on the edge of the box. From the ensuing free kick, Gerrard scored a goal, which can be described in a single word: SCREAMER! Although the ball was only a few inches away from Almunia, you couldn't have blamed him. The ball was inside the net before you could say Stevie G. Liverpool rode on the euphoria post the goal for a while, but after that, it was all Arsenal till the second half.

L'pool started the second half brightly, with the introduction of Crouch prompting the L'pool midfield and defence to launch long balls for the tall striker to utilize. He did have three decent chances, but it was not his day, unlike in March this year when he scored three from three against the same opposition at the same ground. Traditionally, L'pool have been Arsenal's bete noir, having the most number of wins and scoring the most number of goals against Arsenal in the League till date. However, that was not to be the story of yesterday.

The Arsenal youth came into their own late in the second half, with the tiredness markedly apparent on the L'pool defence. Mascherano was booked for a two footed lunge and the only thing that prevented his getting a sending off was that his right leg was in the air, when he clashed into Sagna. It took Arsenal more than half an hour into the second half to really start making inroads into the L'pool defence. However, even then, L'pool were stubborn and used strength in numbers to block of wave after wave of Arsenal attacks.

In the end, it took a slight bit of luck and immense patience and talent from two bright young players of Arsenal to break down Liverpool. Hleb took up the ball on the left flank and made a forward run. Adebayour was offside, Hleb didn't pass. Then Nicklas was offside, Hleb still didn't pass. He knew who was making a run down his right into the centre of the box and at the last possible moment, Hleb flicked the ball into the path of Cesc Fabregas, who took a touch before toe poking it past a hapless Reina, who could only watch the ball trickle into the back of the net after hitting his hand.

When it comes to breaking down dogged defences, it takes patience, courage and a never-say-die attitude to score a goal. And that is precisely what Arsenal did yesterday. This is where the team differs from last years team, which used to get frustrated (and to a major extent because of the captain's antics and frustrations on the pitch) The present team has the willingness to slug it out till the end. Let's hope they sustain that spirit throughout! Amen to that!