We lost two points in the dying minutes of a game we deserved to win due to an unlucky mistake by Pepe Reina. Chamakh’s shot hit the post however the rebound bounced off Pepe’s chest and went in canceling David Ngog’s great goal in the 46th minute.
Arsenal played better in the first half with Thomas Vermaelen forcing Reina into a great save early. Right before half time Glen Johnson made Almunia tip his shot into corner. From the corner a David Ngog header was cleared off the line. Then less than one minute later Joe Cole got shown a straight red card for a challenge on Koscielny. Honestly I personally believe that the challenge warranted a card but a yellow one, not a red as the intention wasn’t there by Joe.
The Reds started the 2nd half firing on all cylinders and were soon rewarded with a splendid goal by David Ngog. Mascherano found the young Frenchman who brilliantly netted the ball home.
Liverpool held on the slender lead with Roy bringing in Fernando Torres on for David Ngog, Maxi Rodriguez on for Milan Jovanovic and Lucas Leiva for Javier Mascherano. With all the subs used Liverpool went down to nine men for a few minutes when Daniel Agger (who had earlier taken a ball in the face) seemed disoriented. While Agger was off the field Maxi had to scramble to clear from in front of goal.
As the game reached it’s sunset, Pepe Reina made a very fine save however the Spaniard blundered less than a minute later as Chamakh shot hit the post and bounced off his chest.
Liverpool pressed on into injury time and this time it was Koscielny who ended seeing red after fouling Torres and then handling the ball. As the five minutes of injury time expired Stevie G. had to force Almunia into a fine save.
The game ended 1-1 but overall great performance by the reds who showed great drive especially when the chips were down and odds stacked against them.
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Gerrard, Jovanovic, Mascherano, Kuyt, Cole, Ngog. Subs: Cavalieri, Aurelio, Torres, Maxi, Babel, Lucas, Kelly.
Arsenal: Almunia, Clichy, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Diaby, Nasri, Eboue, Sagna, Wilshere, Arshavin, Chamakh. Subs: Fabianski, Rosicky, van Persie, Vela, Walcott, Song, Gibbs.
Referee: Martin Atkinson
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THE GOOD: Great solid performance by the reds, nice to see lads give it all especially when we were down to 10 men, they kept fighting and moving forward.
THE BAD: Joe Cole’s red card should have been a yellow, that was a ridiculous call by Martin Atkinson. It was harsh, there was no intention to foul on Joe’s part.
THE UGLY: Luck and bad referee decisions have started where they left off last season.
serves pepe right for his fabregas barca shirt prank haha
Your Good, Bad and Ugly are right on! Hustle on the field through the whole game. They all fought hard. YNWA!
An excellent team performance..
and what a professional & committed by Mascherano in what would be his farewell game !!
TQ Javier !!! YNWA !!!
I would say the one bad part about our play was a lack of width on the right with Dirk. He tends to come into the middle of the field whenever the ball is on the left and compresses the defense to make everything crowded down the middle.
Other than that I thought we put on one hell of a performance. Especially without Torres occupying the centre backs throughout the game. N’Gog was brilliant (especially his finish).
YNWA