3 minutes later, Steven Gerrard went on a good run with the Arsenal defenders just let him go and he put in a good cross for Dirk Kuyt to score the equalizer ahead of Philip Senderos and Gael Clichy.
In the 2nd half Arsenal had a lot of the play without really creating a lot of clear cut chances but they were unlucky twice when 1is of all the referee should have pointed to the penalty spot when Aliaksandr Hleb went on a good run and was pulled down by Dirk Kuyt right in front of the Dutch referee and he said no penalty. I bet Kuyt thanked him in Dutch as it was a scandalous decision.
The 2nd episode was when Cesc Fabregas poked the ball towards the net only for his own teammate Nicklas Bendtner managed somehow to prevent the ball from going into the net due to his clumsiness. All he had to do was either jump over the ball or let the ball go through his legs but he did neither and kept the ball out.
Arsenal have the tendency to overplay as they pass the ball far too many times without being direct as players like Hleb almost always seems to be turning in the wrong direction and Adebayor always seems to coming back towards his own goal when he is passed the ball as he never looks to roll his marker and go towards goal.
Ratings
Arsenal
Emanuel Almunia 6 He did not really have that much to do but no glaring errors.
Kolo Toure 5.5 It was a very strange decision by Arsene Wenger to play him there and never really looked comfortable there but as always he gave his all.
Gael Clichy 5.5 He did not have the space to come forward as Kuyt was able to do a good job there.
Philip Senderos 5.5 He was a surprise choice to start and though he did not commit any glaring errors, he was always beaten for pace by Fernando Torres.
William Gallas 6 He may be a better choice than Toure to play at right back but he did make some timely interventions against Torres
Mathieu Flamini 6 He gave his normal amount of industry without really hurting Liverpool in the attacking third.
Cesc Fabregas 6 Nowadays he just seems to huff and puff without actually blowing the house down and it was the same tonight. Too many square passes, not enough individuality from him. He claims he now plays for the team and no more for himself where he thought he used to show off a bit but I feel he is a worse player for it.
Emmanuel Eboue 5 He is not a right winger and Wenger should stop playing him in that position as he was poor making no impact whatsoever.
Aliaksandr Hleb 5.5 He had a disappointing night and he has not really scaled the heights he showed at the beginning of the system.
Emmanuel Adebayor 5.5 He scored his side’s goal but apart from that he did not really do much. He must have the worst 1st touch of all the strikers playing for so called big clubs in the so called big leagues. He lets the ball get away from him far too much and that helps defenders.
Robin Van Persie 5 He was very disappointing and went off yet again with a thigh injury.
Substitutes
Theo Walcott 5.5 He did some good thing and some not so good things but personally I would have started him ahead of Adebayor.
Nicklas Bendtner 4 A poor performance from a poor player that thinks he is better than he actually is. Apart from stopping a goal bound effort from Fabregas he also gave the ball away far too cheaply.
Arsene Wenger 5 I am not sure why he chose to start with Toure at right back and not Eboue and he has not being able to cure Arsenal’s illness at the back as well as their inability to score when they are on top.
Liverpool
Beppe Reina 6 He made some good saves but was not unduly tested.
Jamie Carragher 6 He was more solid than spectacular.
Martin Skrtel 6 He was caught out on a couple of occasions and may be the weak link at the back.
Sámi Hyppia 6 He was not exposed by his lack of pace by the Arsenal team that tends to be too indirect.
Fabio Aurellio5.5 He was solid without really doing too much
Xavi Alonso 6 He covered more distance than any Liverpool midfielder but his quality was not really there as it has not been this season.
Steve Gerrard 6.5 He was not on the ball a lot but whenever he was he looked a threat.
Ryan Babel 5 He was not able to use his pace to good effect.
Javier Mascherano 6.5 He is not my favourite player as he has limited ability but what he does is to be extremely effective for his side and he snuffed out any danger he perceived coming.
Dirk Kuyt 6.5 He may not be eye catching when it comes to what he does with the ball but for a striker, he works so hard for his side and was very good tonight.
Fernando Torres 6 He always looked the most dangerous forward on show as his pace and ability always worried the Arsenal contingent.
Substitutes
Yossi Benayoun 5 He did not really affect the game in any way.
Lucas Leiva 5 He did not really do much either.
Andriy Voronin He came on too late to be rated
Rafa Benitez 6 He did what he always does trying to stifle the life out of every game and I for 1 as a lover of expansive football would not be too disappointed if his style does not lead to a lot of success. It is 1 thing to a tactical genius it is another to set your side up to capitalize on errors of your opponents instead of your own creativity.
In the other game Fenerbahce came from a goal down when Deivid put the ball into his own net to defeat Chelsea 2-1 with goals from former Bury, Brighton and Sheffield United player, Kazim Richards and a screamer from Deivid.
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