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Who would have thought it would come to this? Some said it would be down to penalties, and for a long while, it seemed as though it might. The Liverpool vs Arsenal Champions League Quarterfinals started as explosive as it could be. Arsenal practically throwing all they have at the Reds at Anfield without holding anything back. For the first 10 minutes or so, it would seemed as though the Gunners were teaching the home side ‘Passing 101’ crash course. And at the 13th minute, Dirk Kuyt’s equalizer at the Emirates seemed almost futile. Diaby scored a great goal to put the visitors ahead. What can anyone say when all the passed that Liverpool made seemed to be haywire and possession was given up almost at every second pass.
Come the half hour mark, Gerrard, who otherwise had been a quiet figure all night swung in a corner to be met by the head of Sami Hyppia, who rose above Sanderos, often the culprit in giving away goals. And then it was all back to square one. To say the least, it would be Round 3, ring the bell!
From then on, the home crowd never stopped chanting. The famous atmosphere very well spurred the team on, until after the break. The Reds came pressing on, with the crowd behind them, it was as if they were playing with 12th men, as cliché as it sounds. In the 69th minute, the Wonder Kid strikes. An articulate finish by an artist by any standards, Fernando Torres scored in his 6th consecutive home match, much to the roaring crowd that includes former legends Alan Hansen and Kenny Dalglish.
But it was not to be yet. The epic unfolds only during the last 10 minutes. Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie came in and changed the game. For all that matters, Gerrard’s mis-kick might have been the turning point of the season. Walcott took the loose ball, ran across 80 yards to pass Alonso, Mascherano and Hyppia before squaring into the penalty box for Adebayor to hit it home. Score 2-2. that would be enough for Arsenal to go through to the almost waiting Chelsea. Walcott’s amazing run would have resulted a firm seat in the national team, if only Fabio Capello was still around, the thing is he had already left Anfield by then. Arsene Wenger said in his post game comments that “I felt at that stage the game was over at 2-2. Then there was a dodgy penalty and we started to lose concentration. Over the two games this is hard to swallow. The big decisions over penalties in both matches have gone against us.The players in the dressing room are very down because they believe week after week the decisions are going against them. It was not a penalty tonight, I have seen the replay. But we were denied a clear penalty last week."
Wild celebrations went on the visiting crowd, and on the bench, while the Reds fans spur their team on, merely a minute later, Babel was pulled down. Penalty! Up comes Steven Gerrard. 3-2. what a turnaround it has been for now. With only minutes left on the clock, Arsenal fought relentlessly, but only to give away a goal in the dying minutes of stoppage time when Ryan Babel, making a huge impact since coming in, slot home the 4th goal for the home crowd, the 6th goal of the night, and the 8th goal of the tie. Game over, 4-2, aggregate 6-3. its game over for the Gunners now. They will play Manchester United in the next league match.
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