Arsenal 1 – 1 Liverpool

April 2, 2008 | 135 Comments

The Gunners are left frustrated as Benitez’s game-plan worked to perfection. The Scousers nicked an away goal at the Grove and then soaked up the Arsenal onslaught to earn a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Champions League Quarter-Final.

After an relatively uneventful first twenty minutes, Arsenal began to exert themselves on the match. That pressure resulted in the first goal coming in the 24th minute, a smashed header off the head of Emmanuel Adebayor.

The joy was short-lived however, as it took only two minutes for Liverpool to reply. Steven Gerrard’s whipped in cross tapped in by Dirk Kuyt to make it 1-1 after 26 minutes.

The score remained tied at halftime, and when the teams took the pitch after the interval, Robin van Persie had been replaced by Theo Walcott. It turns out that the Dutchman suffered a thigh injury. It’s been an absolute nightmare of season for Robin. Let’s hope it’s more of a precautionary measure by Wenger than an actual injury. While Walcott did provide a bit of a spark (He had an excellent shot skip past the post), he was not alone in his profligacy in front of goal.

Chance after chance came to the Gunners, and nothing was done with them. It was like watching last year’s side at points. Meanwhile, Liverpool defended in numbers, knowing that they’d done their job.

The match was not without controversy. Around the hour mark, Alex Hleb was brought down in the Liverpool penalty area, but the ref decided against the Gunners. Replays showed that it was a clear penalty, but you can’t pit your hopes on a penalty. You need to score when the chances are presented, and on the night, the Gunners managed to only convert one of those chances.

So, it’s on to Anfield, and a match I’ll be attending in person. I’ve never seen the Arsenal lose in person, so I’m feeling quite confident. All we have to do is score once and keep a clean sheet, or match Liverpool goal for goal, and we’re through.

Before that though, there’s a league match at home against these same Scousers. I’ll be at that game too, and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. Kickoff is at 7:45 AM ET, and the match will be broadcast live here in the US on Setanta USA.

Posted by mikek | Filed Under Match Report 

Arsenal vs Liverpool, Champs League 1/4 1st Leg – Sachin’s Take

April 2, 2008 | 96 Comments

Champions League football is back again. Although, the almost month long wait feels like an eternity. That is because days after the joyous March 4 away win to Milan, things have not gone as per a happy script for Arsenal. Dropped points in the league before a loss to London rivals Chelsea threw Arsenal’s title hopes into a spin. Things appeared to get grimmer after 45 rain soaked minutes away to Bolton; the rain appeared to be drowning Arsenals’ promising season down the drain. Yet amazingly this young team took a page out of previous Wenger and even George Graham teams in able to turn a game around when there was absolutely no sign of hope. 3 second half goals, including a snooker like winning goal ensured that there is still some life in this young Arsenal team.

Liverpool come into this game on the back of an impressive 5 game winning Champs league streak. After a poor start where they only picked up 1 point from their opening 3 games, Liverpool turned things around when staring group elimination in the face by going on an amazing run of 8-0 (Besiktas), 4-1 (Porto) and 4-0 wins (away to Marseille) before their 2-0 home and 1-0 away win to Inter. Arsenal on the other hand started the Champs League group stages in the impressive manner as their league campaign — stylish wins and a handful of goals. Arsenal were impressive in taking care of a Juande Ramos Sevilla side 2-0 and followed that with a 1-0 away win to Steaua before turning it on against the new comers Slavia 7-0. With qualification in sight, Arsenal let their foot off the pedal and only managed a 0-0 away tie to Slavia and a poor 3-1 away loss to Sevilla cost them top spot in the group before their final 2-1 win over Steaua. However, top spot meant nothing as Arsenal outplayed and completely dominated the defending Champs Milan to reach the Quarter Finals. Liverpool also dominated their Milan opponents, although one can argue they only had to do it against 10 men in both legs.

Arsenal and Liverpool will get an intimate look at each other over the next week and their 3 meetings will go a long way towards deciding the outcome of both teams season. Which team will be left fighting for silver-ware and what league standing will each occupy when all is said and done? The questions should answering themselves starting on Wednesday. The final act of Arsenal’s 2007/08 is about to start and it does promise to contain plenty of action, drama and emotion. So grab some popcorn, some healthy beverage (water, malt, hops and yeast to bring it all together), find that favourite bar stool or comfy chair/couch and tune in. It shouldn’t be dull.

Disclaimer[in tiny print]: The producers of Arsenal’s 2007/08 regret to inform fans that there will be no financial or emotional refunds if Arsenal fans are not completely satisfied with the final outcome of the games. Also, the producers can’t offer any solutions to fans on how to cope with the emotional wreckage the next few weeks might cause. There are no help lines currently set-up.

Posted by Sachin | Filed Under Game Preview