Liverpool 4 – 2 Arsenal: A tale of two penalty decisions ends in tears
1 comment April 9th, 2008
So that’s it. We’re out of the Champions League, in a horrible, gut-wrenching fashion.
With seven minutes to go, a quite astonishing run from Theo Walcott ended in him squaring for Adebayor to net his twenty-fifth goal of the season. All we had to do was hang on.
Ha. Well, that was a pretty joyous thirty seconds or so. No sooner had the telly stopped showing replays of what appeared to be our tie-clinching goal, than Ryan Babel burst into our box and went down under the softest of challenges from Kolo Toure. The ref’s decision was immediate and final: penalty.
Was it anywhere near as clear a foul as the one on Aleksandr Hleb in the first leg? Would we have been awarded a penalty at Anfield in identical circumstances? Would Liverpool have even got the penalty at the other end, without the baying Kop? The answer to all of those three is a resounding: ‘No’.
It was heartbreaking. Babel added a fourth as we were caught upfield chasing the game, but it mattered little. Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory not at the hands of Kolo Toure, but of the referee.
It had all started so well. In the first twenty minutes we were simply awesome, and Abou Diaby’s well-worked goal was the icing on a particularly delicious cake. A second goal at this stage would’ve killed the game, but it wasn’t forthcoming.
Liverpool, though, were nowhere. Torres and Crouch had barely touched the ball, and Steven Gerrard was having what he later described as one of his worst games for the club. So it was a surprise when they equalised after half-an hour – Philippe Senderos failed to track Samy Hyppia’s run, and the big Finn headed powerfully into the top corner. The goal knocked our fragile confidence, and the Scousers dominated until half-time.
The second half was a very cagey affair until a Torres turned Senderos and slammed in a brilliant goal to put Liverpool infront in the tie. However, the strike mattered little – if we could equalise in the remaining twenty minutes, a place in the semi-final was ours. Shortly afterwards, it looked as if we might’ve missed that chance when Emmanuel Adebayor screwed an effort horribly wide. But Theo Walcott had other ideas.
Picking up the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, he burst past half the Liverpool team, running the length of the pitch in the process, and squared for Adebayor to neatly tuck home. Cue unbridled glee. And then the penalty incident unfolded as described above.
To be fair, the ref isn’t the only person to blame, as Arsene admits:
“It’s down to a dodgy decision, I believe, from the referee, but there was even a lack of concentration straight away after it went 2-2. They found Babel in the box straight from kickoff, and that’s where the concentration dropped a little bit. We made big mistakes: we conceded a goal from a corner, and for the second goal I feel we gave Torres too much room. We were too naive, we lacked a bit of maturity defensively. We had so much control. The mental strength of the team was fantastic tonight. It was also down to lack of experience.”
You have to say, for all Theo’s wonderful work on the goal, it was on his flank that Babel was allowed in so easily. Is it possible that in the euphoria following that thrilling moment, he switched off just long enough to allow the Dutchman in behind to win the penalty? Considering the TV pictures barely got back to the game in time to see the spot kick given, only those present at the game will know. I’m not really blaming Theo, but the whole side: although it was never a pen, to allow Babel to drift into the box so quickly after taking the lead was criminal. Absolutely criminal.
Within Arsene’s admission of a lack of experience is enveloped the admission that his gamble hasn’t quite paid off this season. When it has come to the crunch (quite literally in the case of Eduardo’s injury), our squad hasn’t quite had the toughness and know-how to cope. Last night we were markedly better than Liverpool in possession of the ball, but silly errors cost us. Not all of those are down to inexperience – some are just down to not being quite good enough at the top level. It’s obvious that this Summer we need recruitments who are as talented, and, crucially, as ready to step straight into the first-team as last Summer’s additions: Bacary Sagna and Eduardo.
Now we have to try and pick ourselves up ahead of Old Trafford on Sunday. It looks like Mathieu Flamini will be injured, but Sagna could be back to steady a defence that is rocking at the moment.
Should we fail to win that game, it’ll be safe to say our season is over. Until then, we can cling to the last remnants of hope.
