Liverpool 3 – 6 Arsenal: “Five times”, eh? We prefer six…
86 comments January 10th, 2007
On Saturday, as Liverpool lost 3-1 to Arsenal in the FA Cup, their fans still attempted to taunt the away support by raising an open palm and shouting “Five times”, in reference to their somewhat irrelevant Champions League triumphs. Well, I hope as Julio Baptista smashed in his hatrick to make it 5-1, the Arsenal fans returned the favour. To score five at Anfield was amazing. To end up with six, quite incredible.
Perhaps we ought to begin at the beginning. The team selection provided few surprises on the Arsenal side, but Liverpool, who were already out of the FA Cup, a way off in the Premiership, and up against Barcelona in the Champions League, sprung several surprises by starting with the likes of Peltier, Paletta, Guthrie, Aurelio, and Fowler all starting.
The game started at a slow pace with a serious injury to Mark Gonzalez. The stoppage probably suited us, as it slowed Liverpool’s early momentum. Then a long ball from Kolo Toure, not dissimilar to the one that played Emmanuel Adebayor in during the North London derby, found Jeremie Aliadiere. The Frenchman’s first touch was exquisite, clawing the ball out of the air before firing in a snap-shot that Jerzy Dudek parried. However, he could do nothing about Aliadiere beating him to the rebound to make it 1-0.
It wasn’t to last as a Fabio Aurelio free-kick was parried by Almunia, only for Luis Garcia to slide it across goal and Robbie Fowler, our old nemesis, to back-flick it into the net. The lead had lasted just six minutes, and you feared for Arsenal’s youngsters. However, these boys have had all of Wenger’s belief instilled in them, and it showed as they reimposed themselves on the game to tremendous effect, as between 40 minutes and a delayed half-time, we pillaged three goals.
Julio Baptista had not been in the game, and his only real contribution had been to make a hash of a free-kick routine with Kolo Toure. However, after we earned another set piece some thirty yards out, Arsene Wenger turned to Pat Rice and told him Baptista would score. The Brazilian duly obliged, bending the ball with remarkable dip into the near post. Wenger, it seems, knows.
If Baptista’s goal raised a few eyebrows, the next goalscorer was even more of a surprise: the much maligned Alex Song. After a Denilson corner evaded a hapless Jerzy Dudek, the ball ricocheted off Sami Hyypia before flying in off Song’s arm.
And the mayhem didn’t end there, as Arsenal added a fourth. Baptista side-stepped several defenders, before playing in Jeremie Aliadiere. Although the Frenchman looked marginally offside, the same could be said of Liverpool’s first goal. Whilst the defenders halted expecting a whistle, Baptista cleverly glanced at the linesman. Seeing that the flag was down, he burst into the penalty area; Aliadiere’s cut-back was spot on, and Baptista tapped home.
If the boos that rang around Anfield didn’t worry Rafa Benitez, then the 56th-minute penalty awarded to Arsenal did. Again Aliadiere was key, skipping past Hyypia who clumsily tripped him. Baptista stepped up, determined to take home the match ball, but on this occasion Dudek was his equal, tipping away a spot-kick that was just too close to the Polish goalkeeper.
Baptista didn’t have to wait long for revenge. Four minutes later, a brilliant Arsenal counter-attack began down by our own corner flag. Cesc Fabregas looked up and released a 60 yard pass into the path of Jeremie Aliadiere on the left. The frenchman out-muscled his marker, shifted inside and picked out Julio Baptista twenty five yards from goal. After the disappointment of the penalty miss, the Brazilian unleashed his frustration in a powerful and accurate drive into the bottom corner.
As on Saturday, the Anfield crowd were magnificent, and their support pushed Liverpool towards a come-back. Firstly Steven Gerrard volleyed in spectacularly, then Sami Hyypia atoned for his poor defensive display with a powerful header. The score stood at 5-3, and had Benitez not bizarrely brought on Jamie Carragher ahead of Peter Crouch, our defence may have had a few nervy moments.
As it was, we merely exploited their forays forward with another counter-attack. This time it was Justin Hoyte who played in Aliadiere, now foraging from the right-hand side. Again he did superbly well to burst into the area, and cut-it back for another Baptista tap-in. Four goals for the Brazilian, and for three of them he could thank his French strike-partner.
What a remarkable result, and what an enjoyable night. If you had told me that tonight would better Saturday, I wouldn’t have believed you. But for me, it really did. The satisfaction derived from winning at Anfield with a team in which the average age of the outfield players was just twenty is quite unbelievable. We have become the first side in almost a century to score six at Anfield, and have set up a mouth-watering double-headed semi-final with Spurs. I hope the youngsters get another chance to show what they can do: Arsene is justifiably proud.
This is already a very long article, but I thought I’d take a little time to pick out some of the stars of our second string:
MANUEL ALMUNIA was again excellent in goal. As Andy Gray repeatedly pointed out, his handling on Saturday had been exemplary, and this continued tonight. Yet, he conceded three goals, but this was the strangest of games, and he made several good saves to deny the likes of Aurelia and Carragher. Content to bide his time on the bench, but with enough ability to provided superb cover, Almunia is the ideal substitute goalkeeper.
At the start of the season, I was arguably JUSTIN HOYTE‘s sternest critic. However, in recent weeks, he has really come on. With Eboue’s tendency for positional errors and lapses in concentration, Hoyte has begun to look a rather attractive alternative – hopefully though, Lauren will soon return and solve what is arguably the only problem position in our side.
Kolo Toure, captain for the night, was excellent. JOHAN DJOUROU was better. It really is becoming almost impossible to know what our best back four is, and that is almost entirely down to the performances of young Djourou. This season, he has come from nowhere to force himself right into contention, and some of his tackles last night were more than meaty: they were downright ferocious. I like.
ALEX SONG, controversial though this may be, was “excellent”: not my words, but the words of The Telegraph. I have to confess I agree. He has been awful in the past; arguably some of the worst performances I’ve ever seen from an Arsenal player. But tonight I must give him his dues: one performance does not make a player, but he showed strength, awareness, and decent passing in the “Gilberto role” infront of the back-four.
DENILSON played out of position on the left-hand side of midfield, but was still impressive, showing a good touch and intelligent movement. What pleased me most, however, was the way he was prepared to ride challenges and take knocks without fuss. Without wishing to stereotype, there aren’t many eighteen year-old Brazilians you could say that of.
After a stunning performance with one goal, a penalty award, and three assists, it’s hard to know whether or not JEREMIE ALIADIERE has won himself a future at Arsenal or a move to another club. After the game, Arsene suggested that it is the player who is agitating for a move as, at 23, he wants regular first-team football. We’ve always known Aliadiere has potential, but in the aftermath of tonight’s game even Wenger has been forced to admit that he has not taken his performances in training out onto the pitch. Tonight, though, was different. Whether he stays or goes, this will probably go down as his finest game in an Arsenal shirt.
Wonderful though Aliadiere’s assists were, they may have given him a bit of a problem, as they provided three of JULIO BAPTISTA‘s four goals. We’ve all been waiting for the player we saw at Sevilla to appear in an Arsenal shirt, and tonight we saw “La Bestia” for the first time. If you want to know why, I’d suggest the reason is primarily tactical. Firstly, he played up-front in a four-four-two; and secondly, he was playing off a striker with excellent pace and movement. In the past, Baptista has appeared in central midfield or on the flank, or upfront with Van Persie – a very different player to Aliadiere. Tonight, he was played as a rampaging support striker, and we reaped the rewards. Although the competition with Adebayor and Van Persie is fierce, he has forced himself into contention. The penalty aside, he had four shots and scored four goals. I think that’s what you call “clinical finishing”.
Oh, and ABOU DIABY got a good twenty minutes in too. All in all, a great night. This week’s arsecast will be looking at the young stars of the squad. On the back of tonight, I can’t wait.
Thanks to gettyimages for the most beautiful picture I have ever seen:
