Oops! Pic via Sky Sports.
Liverpool 1: N'Gog 46
Arsenal 1: Reina 90 (og)
At one point during the latter stages of the match, our own Maxwell Foxman turned to me and said, "John, you've got that facial expression you get when you're mad." I can't say I was mad, exactly... it was more frustration and the feeling of oncoming despair. After the match, our own Jack Palmer sent me a text that said "Welcome back, Arsenal stress!"
Remember that time Pepe Reina had his arm around Cesc Fabregas while our captain was uncomfortably forced to wear a Barcelona shirt at the Spain World Cup celebration?
Karma's a bitch, isn't it?
Fabregas was not available for the Gunners on Merseyside while Robin van Persie and Alex Song were unable to start; this gave Jack Wilshere his first Premier League start for Arsenal and put Samir Nasri, Andrei Arshavin, and Emmanuel Eboue as the three midfielders behind Marouane Chamakh.
Arsenal controlled much of the opening half in classic Arsenal style, that is to say, there was a lot of calm and controlled possession with absolutely nothing to show for it. Aside from a Thomas Vermaelen free kick in the early going, there was very little to challenge Pepe Reina.
Liverpool came close to opening the scoring late in the half. In the 44th minute, a Glen Johnson shot forced Manuel Almunia into a brilliant save and after a the corner kick, a shot seemed destined for the low left goal post, but Gael Clichy blocked the shot away on the line. A minute later, an ill-timed but not ill-intentioned scissoring tackle from Joe Cole on Laurent Koscielny saw the former Chelsea man shown a straight red card. Initial reports looked bad; Arsene Wenger was told by the physios that Koscielny might have broken a bone. With Johan Djourou already hurt, Arsenal would be down to one center back with the new signing out.
Koscielny appeared fine to start the second half, but the back four wasn't quite there in every sense of the term after the restart. An Andrei Arshavin pass went astray and eluded both Jack Wilshere and Samir Nasri and landed at the feet of Javier Mascherano. His pass fed David N'Gog, Arsenal's defense allowed him all of the time and space in the world, and N'Gog fired a brilliant strike past the arms of Almunia and into the top of the net. Liverpool was on ten men, but after 58 seconds of play in the second half, they were up 1-0.
The goal deflated Arsenal quite a bit and Liverpool stunningly dominated play for the first 20-30 minutes of the second half, a worrying concept considering the Gunners' man advantage during this time. A double substitution just before the hour mark brought on Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott in exchange for Wilshere and Eboue. Arsenal began regaining some possession around this point and after the 70 minute mark began having a few better looks at the goal. Robin van Persie appeared in the 76th for Abou Diaby and he added some spark, despite not looking 100%.
Rosicky had a powerful strike tipped over the bar by Reina, then a scramble around the goal line brought nothing; it appeared Arsenal's goal wasn't coming. Then in the 90th, Rosicky received the ball on the left wing after a throw-in and sent a cross into the box. It appeared Reina would have the cross controlled, but he was beaten in the air by Chamakh, whose header clanged off the bottom of the left post and was headed right back into the arms of the waiting Reina. But Reina could not control the ball and he fumbled it into his own goal. Final minute of normal time and Arsenal was level.
Manuel Almunia was forced into a brilliant save on a Steven Gerrard free kick in the 93rd to keep the match level. It was a well taken strike and would have been a heartbreaking result for the Gunners just minutes after they had been gifted an equalizer. But in bad news, Laurent Koscielny was shown two yellow cards in injury time, the second being a fairly ridiculously ruled intentional handball. The having one center back fear is now back, as Koscielny will now serve a one match ban.
Chamakh and Koscielny generally had strong debuts for Arsenal; Jack Wilshere was solid but doesn't seem ready to start for us on a weekly basis; Manuel Almunia had no major disasters but still doesn't instill any needed confidence in goal; the back four as a whole appeared lost at times, especially Gael Clichy in the second half; Andrei Arshavin was dreadful, but I have the feeling he's playing hurt; and, a difficult fixture is out of the way with a point while missing Fabregas.
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