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| Lucas Podolski: Image Courtesy |
Arsenal
are not supposed to win like this. In fact, Arsenal are not supposed to
win at all when the prospect of silverware flashes before their eyes.
With plenty of big guns cast from the FA Cup,
the winner here knew that the chances of glory would soar, particularly
as a home tie awaited in the quarter-finals, albeit a tough one against
Everton.
Liverpool
will wonder how they lost. They were offensively dynamic, creating a
host of chances, and though they were awarded one penalty for a foul on
Luis Suárez, they could not believe that they were denied another one
shortly afterwards.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, one of the Arsenal
heroes, crashed into Suárez inside the area and it was a major surprise
that the referee, Howard Webb, who had an extremely busy afternoon,
ignored the Liverpool appeals. In the eyes of the club's supporters, it
was further evidence that Webb has it in for them. Brendan Rodgers, the
Liverpool manager, described it as a "blatant" penalty.
Arsenal
got the job done. It was a performance that was characterised by grit
and defiance, and it was epitomised by the stand-in goalkeeper Lukasz
Fabianski, who made a string of vital saves. At full-time, Fabianski ran
from his goal to slide on his knees in front of one of the main stands.
Arsène
Wenger had rotated his line-up before Wednesday's Champions League
last-16 first-leg tie at home to Bayern Munich and it felt, especially
after the 5-1 mauling at Liverpool in the Premier League the previous
weekend, that Arsenal were somehow the underdogs.
But they punched
their weight and they advanced on the back of two pieces of ruthless
finishing, from the excellent Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski.
Liverpool laid siege to the Arsenal goal for much of the second half and
Rodgers was not exaggerating when he said that Liverpool might have
scored five or six.
But, despite the menace of Suárez they
suffered a jolt to the momentum that has built behind them in recent
weeks. This one really hurt because Liverpool looked good, and Daniel
Sturridge took it particularly hard having missed three decent chances.
He was disconsolate at full-time. Arsenal could simply savour revenge
for the Anfield humbling and a timely boost to morale.
Liverpool
had threatened to reprise the blitz that they staged against Arsenal
last weekend – when they led 4-0 after 20 minutes – and here Sturridge
had two golden chances before the tie was five minutes old. They stemmed
from lovely passes from Steven Gerrard and Philippe Coutinho
respectively but, on the first occasion, Sturridge's shot was blocked by
Fabianski, and on the second he went around the goalkeeper only to
shoot into the side netting.
It was Arsenal who forged ahead and
the goal owed much to the physical presence of Yaya Sanogo, the full
debutant, plus a misjudgment from Martin Skrtel, who leapt for and
missed Mesut Özil's cross from the right. Sanogo got the ball down and
shot; it struck Gerrard before breaking kindly to Oxlade-Chamberlain,
who swept the ball past Brad Jones.
The pace and intensity of the
tie was unrelenting and there was much to admire in the technique on
show from the creative players. There was also old-fashioned niggle,
with Arsenal, unusually, looking to leave a mark on their opponents.
Perhaps
it was the return of Mathieu Flamini, the club's all talking, all
snarling midfielder, or maybe it was Sanogo's presence. All that the
France youth centre-forward missed was a pair of boxing gloves. The
crowd loved it when he closed down Daniel Agger on 28 minutes to make a
blocking challenge. A serious back problem has undermined his first
season at Arsenal but he bristled with a determination to make up for
lost time. When he was substituted late on, he departed to a great
ovation.
Webb showed five yellow cards in the first half and he
let a couple of other challenges go, including Podolski's lunge at Jon
Flanagan. Podolski had been caught moments earlier by Gerrard, who was
spared. The Liverpool captain, though, went into the book for a cynical
foul on Oxlade-Chamberlain and he was fortunate to escape a second
yellow for a late tackle on the same player in the 75th minute. Flamini,
obviously, was booked, for fouling Gerrard, and Nacho Monreal's rake on
Joe Allen looked painful.
Suárez showed yet again that it is
impossible to keep him quiet. He simmered in the first half and he came
to the boil in the second. He had just worked Fabianski when Arsenal
sprang forward to extend their lead. After Carl Jenkinson had won the
ball, Oxlade-Chamberlain swapped passes with Özil before cutting it back
for Podolski and the German's shot beat Jones.
Suárez and
Liverpool merely intensified their efforts and they came to dominate,
although Özil did force Jones into one low save. Suárez and Sturridge
had sightings before the tie swung again on the penalty. Podolski's hack
at Suárez was needless and a clear penalty; Gerrard scored without
fuss.
Arsenal were fortunate that Webb did not whistle for the
second one. After Suárez's free-kick had been blocked, the Uruguayan
sought to work another opening inside the area only for
Oxlade-Chamberlain to barge into him. The visiting fans howled.
Moments
earlier, Sturridge had gone through only for Fabianski to thrust out a
hand to thwart him, and although Suárez kept going, Liverpool knew it
would not be their day when Agger headed wide from a Gerrard free-kick.