Arsenal salvage Anfield draw – Match Report

An uncharacteristic mistake from Liverpool goalkeeper, Jose Reina, insured Arsenal did not make a losing start to their season. In a game of not many chances, the main talking points came from two players, making their premier league debut for their new clubs, being sent off.

Liverpool new boys Milan Jovanovic and Joe Cole were handed their first Premier League starts but Fernando Torres was deemed to be not quite match fit, as he watched on from the bench. Cesc Fabregas didn’t make the journey to Anfield and was replaced by young England hopeful, Jack Wilshere. Marouane Chamakh and Laurent Koscielny both made their Premier League debuts for Arsenal and an under-fire Almunia was handed the captains armband.

The first half didn’t offer much in the way of goal scoring opportunities. Arsenal came out the blocks quickest with their first, and only real opportunity of the first-half, coming after just three minutes. Martin Atkinson awarded Arsenal a free kick after Javier Mascherano was accused of handling the ball. Samir Nasri rolled the ball to an eager looking Thomas Vermaelen, who drilled a left-footed shot that could only be parried away by ‘Pepe’ Reina.

Milan Jovanovic, who came to Anfield on a free transfer, impressed with his combination of speed and strength, and it was this combination that made him a constant threat down the left flank. A long, high ball from Jamie Carragher took the Arsenal defence by surprise and Jovanovic found himself in a one-on-one situation with Almunia. However, the Serbian lacked composure and blasted his shot wide.

Liverpool gained momentum from this chance and after a swift one-two between Glen Johnson and Dirk Kuyt, the English right-back cut inside the pitch and unleashed a left-footed shot, which was brilliantly saved by Manuel Almunia. The resulting corner, whipped in by Steven Gerrard, saw Ngog’s header blocked on the line by Gael Clichy, the closest either team had come to a goal in the first forty-five minutes.

However, the big story of the first half came right at the end. Arsenal debutant Laurent Koscielny was victim to a late lunge by Liverpool new-boy Joe Cole, a challenge that Martin Atkinson had no hesitation in producing a red card for. A nightmare debut for Liverpool’s biggest summer-signing.

Roy Hodgson had the task of keeping the Reds focused and fired up for the second half and that’s exactly what he did. With less than a minute of the second half gone, Liverpool took the lead with an emphatic strike by David Ngog. Andrey Arshavin, who has an outstanding scoring record against Liverpool, misplaced a pass straight to Mascherano, who coolly slotted Ngog through. The 21-year-old rocketed a shot into the roof of the net, beating Almunia on his near side, although there’s not much the Arsenal keeper could have done to keep the ball from smashing into his net.

 

Moments later Ngog had a chance to double his tally and Liverpool’s lead. However, his header, from a Gerrard free kick, sailed high and wide. This prompted a double substitution from Arsene Wenger of Walcott and Rosicky, who both went on to have great chances of levelling the match.

The first of these chances fell to Walcott, bending a free kick around the Liverpool wall only to be saved by a fully stretched Jose Reina. But by far the closest an Arsenal player came to scoring was through Thomas Rosicky. A lovely one-two with Van Persie saw Rosicky free of the Liverpool defence with just Reina to beat. His shot looked destined for the net, however the trusty Liverpool goalie had other ideas and flung out a hand to produce the best save of the game. Liverpool were hanging on.

In the 90^th minute Rosicky was involved again, this time swinging a high cross into the Liverpool penalty box. Chamakh challenged Reina for the ball and the Spaniard spilled it onto his own post. Liverpool appeared to have been saved by the woodwork, however, as Reina went to gather the ball he palmed it into his own net to score an excruciating last-minute own-goal.

The drama wasn’t over there as Koscielny picked up two yellow cards in the last five minutes of his Premier League debut, meaning that both teams finished with ten men.

Liverpool can take heart from a gutsy performance and Arsenal will be satisfied with a point at Anfield. Both teams will now look to secure their first wins in their quest to challenge for the title.