Arsenal and Liverpool produced yet another 1-1, in what will be the final draw between the two sides this season. Thankfully, Tuesday’s upcoming encounter will produce a winner. Today’s draw though has made Tuesday’s match a crucial one for Arsenal, as it is the only title they might have a chance of winning. 3 points for Manchester United on Sunday, and that’s the end of our title dreams.
Both sides rang the changes, but it was Arsenal who looked the more depleted in the first half. Traore is still far from Premiership material, and Hoyte did not provide much as a full back either. Eboue continues to be a hindrance on the right wing, but we are down to bare bones at the moment and we have no suitable replacement for him.
Bendtner was not able to do much up by himself, and hardly got much sight of the ball. Arguably, the best strategy would have been to fire the ball up to him, let him win the flick on (which he invariably does), and try and get some runners to capitalise on the second ball. Unfortunately, our attempt at playing a passing game played right into the hands of the opponents.
Liverpool’s changed personnel fared a lot better, and had the Emirates stadium in jitters all through the first half. Minutes before the whistle went, they took a deserved lead through Peter Crouch, who tucked in a neat finish into the bottom corner. The Arsenal players left to what sounded like booing, and they must have received a great tongue lashing from Wenger, who was absolutely seething through the match.
Arsenal have so often saved their skins in the second half, and a glorious header from Bendtner saw us equalise the scores. It was little surprise that the goal came from a set piece.
The team upped the pace following the goal, and the introductions of Adebayor, Clichy and Hleb gave more impetus to the attack. However, the engine room of Fabregas and Flamini looked jaded and completely devoid of imagination and energy. The lads need a break, and we can only hope they find some reserve of strength in them to put out a great performance day after tomorrow.
Opportunities came and went, the best of which fell to Hleb, unmarked in a very dangerous position within the box. Unfortunately, he chose that very moment to produce his worst touch of the season, and the move broke down, denying us a repeat of his opening day heroics. Liverpool too had great chances to produce winners, but Voronin and Torres were wasteful in their shooting and passing.
So that is two points dropped, and in all likelihood, it is the end of our title hopes, unless Boro have something to say about that…