Rafa did nothing like parking a bus in front of the goal, featuring the useful Peter Crouch, the goal-threat Torres, and Gerrard and Kuyt on the wings. This line-up was about as attacking as Liverpool gets, and the results were telling. Liverpool equalized through a Hyypia header after an unlikely Diaby (not banned for life) opened scoring. Liverpool then took the lead through a trademark turn and shot by Torres, with Senderos dropping back, allowing space. Arsenal looked to have done enough with a Young Walcott run, picking out Adebayor in space in the center of the box for a tap-in. This Walcott run really hurt, having beaten four defenders en route. However, Arsenal seemed to have not stopped celebrating quickly enough and Toure had to bungle over Babel in the box in a non-controversial penalty. Gerrard converted, and Babel added one of his own to cap things off.
4-2 to the Reds, 5-3 on aggregate, and Chelsea await in the semis (again).
Liverpool Player Ratings:
Reina: First goal came off his knee. Great other than that, coming far off his line to cut out danger. 8.
Carragher: Some good crosses, wasn't exposed. 7.
Hyypia: Better with age? Scored a goal, looked calm. 8.
Skrtel: Uncharacteristically disorganized. 6.
Aurelio: Only up against Eboue. 7.
Kuyt: Industrious, picked out Babel for the emphasis goal. 7.
Alonso: Off the pace, slack passes in the first half. 6.
Mascherano: See Alonso, but with more defense. 6.
Gerrard: Always looked dangerous. Had two half-chances that missed the goal, but he's got every right to shoot from there. Converted the penalty, led the team. 8.
Crouch: Useful flicks put Gallas and Senderos into confusion. No shot from 20 yards like on Saturday. 7.
Torres: Always looked like scoring. Did do. 8.
Sub: Babel: His pace made all the difference. Supersub regains his crown from early on in the season. 9.
Riise and Arbeloa: Only on briefly.
Arsenal fans, feel free to back Liverpool in their quest to defeat Chelsea for a third time running. Deep down, that's what we all want.
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4 deflections:
Harsh on Skrtel.
Arsenal only need 5 points from their remaining 5 games to guarantee a top 4 finish.
The Reuters soccer blog has some good coverage of the match.
I am absolutely gutted. The Arsenal players seemed to have run out of gas after the first half hour and Liverpool just kept the pressure on through the end of the game. I would say Skrtel was one of the best acquisitions (along with Torres) that Benitez made. He controlled Adebayor for 3 games and Wenger had no response because he ran out of options.
Fair play to Liverpool! It'll be interesting to see 3 "English" teams in the semi-finals of CL.
After having my expectations raised sky-high by this Arsenal team, the trip back down to earth really hurts. But they've done really well! the future is bright...
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