Grateful Gooner

Arsenal 1 – 1 Liverpool

// April 2nd, 2008 // Arsenal FC

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The score remained tied at halftime, and when the teams took the pitch after the interval, Robin van Persie had been replaced by Theo Walcott.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.