Liverpool yawatambia Arsenal Ligi Kuu watoka bao 3-3
Appropriately, Anfield appeared to be leaking through every crack and cranny by the end of this game.
The
main stand, now one giant building site, was letting in water, perhaps
in solidarity with the two defences. There were hurried evacuations,
electrical shutdowns, torrents cascading from the sky. As a physical
metaphor for the 90 minutes that preceded the downpour, it was close to
perfect.
This
being a league that nobody wants to win, here was a match played in
similar spirit. Liverpool led, twice, in the first-half and surrendered
both times. Arsenal finally got in front after 55 minutes and held on
until the final attack of the match, when they too, failed to maintain
supremacy. It was a brilliant, thrilling game, but strewn with errors
and defensive lapses.
Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen (second
left) hauls his side level in the final minute of the game to earn his
team a point against Arsenal
Allen is mobbed by his team-mates after having the final word in a gripping encounter between Liverpool and Arsenal
Jurgen Klopp celebrates wildly as Allen's shot hits the back of the net to salvage a point against Arsenal at Anfield
Arsene Wenger looked frustrated by his side's failure to hold on to their lead in the final minutes of the game at Anfield
Klopp takes to the Anfield pitch to applaud the Liverpool supporters as snow falls at Anfield at the end of the game at Anfield
Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino
(centre) rifles his side into the lead against Arsenal in the 10th
minute at Anfield on Wednesday
The Liverpool squad gather together in celebration after Firmino (second left) had given the team the lead against Arsenal
MATCH FACTS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
LIVERPOOL (4-1-4-1):
Mignolet 4; Clyne 6.5, Toure 6, Sakho 4.5, Moreno 5.5; Can 6 (Allen,
82); Ibe 5.5, Lallana 6 (Caulker, 88), Henderson 7, Milner 6.5 (Benteke,
66); Firmino 8. Subs not used: Lucas, Smith, Ward, Teixeira.
Scorers: Firmino, 10, 19, Allen 90.
Booked: Clyne, Firmino.
Arsenal: Cech
6, Bellerin 7, Mertesacker 6.5, Koscielny 7.5, Monreal 7; Ramsey 7.5,
Flamini 7; Campbell 7.5 (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 75), Ozil 6 (Arteta, 87),
Walcott 6.5 (Gibbs, 79); Giroud 8.5.
Subs not used: Gabriel, Chambers, Iwobi, Macey.
Scorers: Ramsey, 14, Giroud, 25, 55.
MOTM: Giroud
Referee: Mike Jones 7
Never shirked a decision and let the game flow. Got all the major calls correct and was always in the right place to make them.
Att: 44,109
In
the end, Liverpool earned a point with a bit of Jurgen Klopp’s heavy
metal. A big old wallop into the box, a big old walloper of a
centre-forward on the end of it and a loose ball leathered into the net
to conclude. It wasn’t total football, but Klopp and his Kop adored it
anyway. By then, snow was falling, which soon turned to rain and the
roof fell in. Arsene Wenger will know that feeling, too.
At
one point in the evening, Leicester were drawing at Tottenham and
Arsenal were leading here. In that moment, Wenger’s team were four
points clear at the top. After Joe Allen had scored the game’s sixth
goal, and Robert Huth Leicester’s winner, that gap was goal difference
alone. Arsenal might have settled for a point before kick-off; at the
final whistle it must have felt like a blade between the shoulder
blades.
It
was their own fault, though, failing to defend some fairly agricultural
routes to goal, once Klopp had introduced his battering ram Christian
Benteke after 66 minutes.
By
the end, even emergency signing Steven Caulker, a centre-half by trade
and of late not a particularly reliable one, was up in the box and
hoping to cause carnage. The ploy worked.
Jordan
Henderson lumped the ball in from deep, Benteke rose high, a chest
higher than any other player in the vicinity, and his header looped
across the area as Arsenal scrambled to clear. Substitute Joe Allen, no
doubt ignoring a nosebleed, arrived first, Frank Lampard style, and
defeated Petr Cech at his near post. In an instant, Klopp was off.
Down
the touchline, as is his jubilant style when Liverpool keep going to
the bitter end. It is really all he has to cling to right now, but it
kept him warm on a wet and snowy night.
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