Giroud An Open Goal Miss Shy Of A Perfect Performance

Match Review: Liverpool 3 Arsenal 3 - Premier League 13.01.16

Another year, another late equaliser for Liverpool at Anfield. We missed the chance to open up a five point gap on City after they drew at home to Everton and we are now back level with Leicester after they downed the Spuds at White Hart Lane. Although on the face of it a draw is not a bad result, I can’t help feeling this was a real missed opportunity to capitalise on a City slip up and take the pressure off ahead of a very tricky trip to Stoke.

As expected, those who were rested for the FA Cup tie returned to the starting XI, as Gabriel, Gibbs, Chamberlain, Chambers and Iwobi all returned to the bench. Mertesacker, Monreal, Ramsey, Flamini and Özil took their places, but we got off to a terrible start. Firmino was the scorer, but the goal was created by a catalogue of Arsenal errors. Theo Walcott started the chain, trying to dribble out of trouble after we defended a corner and lost it. We were then very slow to close Emre Can down and he forced a save from Cech, but Firmino picked up the rebound. Koscielny has to take a little heat for allowing Firmino to get his shot away, but I also think Petr Cech made a bit of a mistake. The Goalkeeper’s weight was all geared towards Firmino shooting for the far corner and when the Brazilian dragged his shot to the inside, Cech was left flat footed as the ball travelled no more than a few inches from his left foot. I know a lot of people will think I’m being harsh, but it’s hard for me not to think that he should have done better when the shot came so close to him and was in the middle of the goal.

The goal sparked a breathless first half into life, as we equalised just a few minutes later. It was largely down to some great work from Joel Campbell, as he took a high ball down, turned and fed a lovely pass in behind to Aaron Ramsey. The midfielder scored for the second game in a row, placing the ball just inside Mignolet’s near post. I thought the goal might settle us down and allow us to control the game a bit more, but not more than four minutes after we conceded again. We failed to clear the ball two or three times and paid the price when Firmino picked up the ball twenty yards out and curled a screamer into the top corner. There was nothing Cech could do about it, just a goal that you have to say fair play and regroup after.

To our credit, we did just that and although the goal was pretty scrappy, it was probably deserved. We looked very dangerous when we got forward and as shaky as we looked at the back, the forward play was very encouraging. The corner we scored from actually came from a nice bit of interplay between Giroud and Walcott that finished with Ramsey lobbing the keeper, but Sakho cleared off the line. From the resulting set piece however, Ramsey whipped the ball to the near post and Giroud did just enough to force the ball into the net via Mignolet.

Somehow it stayed level until halftime, despite both teams having excellent chances. Giroud went from hero to zero, as he somehow miscued sliding in to meet Bellerin’s cross from just a yard out. Cech had to pull out a great save to stop a tap in and then Firmino nearly completed his hat trick, slicing a volley onto the top of the bar. Breathless but ultimately being level at the break was pretty fair.

We started the second half better and got a pretty immediate reward for it. Bellerin rinsed Milner down the right and pulled the ball back to Campbell for his second assist of the game, although the pass did take a slight deflection. The goal was mostly down to the brilliance of Giroud though, taking the ball on his left foot, spinning back round Toure and fizzing a pin point shot into the bottom corner. We had a pretty good spell after that and should have made the game secure but, as Arsene Wenger said after the game, we made the wrong decision at the crucial moment. Eventually we got more and more defensive and Liverpool started really pushing. Klopp brought on Benteke and Caulker for the long ball and it worked, as Joe Allen managed to beat Bellerin to a Benteke knock down and force the ball beyond Cech. Again, I think Cech will be disappointed to have conceded like that, especially as he got a decent hand on the shot. I don’t want to seem like I’ve got an agenda against Cech, but I think most other Goalkeepers would be criticised for not keeping that one out and I think he himself will know he should have done better.

This was just a really annoying result for me. On the balance of play, a draw was probably fair and a point away at Liverpool is not to be sniffed at all. But the fact remains that we had put ourselves in a position to win the game and for the second year in a row we conceded a late goal at Anfield to drop points. Plus Liverpool are a team we should be beating, their home form isn’t brilliant and they are ninth in the league for a reason. We have to take advantage of these opportunities, because as much as City are dropping points at the moment, you can bet that they will go on a good run at some point and we’ll want a decent cushion for when they do.

It isn’t all negativity from me though! Following the confirmation of Elneny’s signing on Thursday, we now have some depth in midfield where we were dangerously light. It’s also an addition that could help sure up a defence that has struggled to keep teams quiet since Coquelin went down. Wenger has also said that Alexis could be back for Sunday and that Welbeck, Wilshere, Rosicky and Coquelin could all be in contention within the next three to four weeks. That’s a huge boost if we can get the squad healthy for the run in, especially with the Barcelona games sandwiched between crucial league ties. We mustn’t rush them, but those players could make the difference between getting over the line and falling short.

Teams

Liverpool (4-3-3)
Mignolet, Clyne (Y), Sakho, Toure, Moreno, Can (Allen 82’), Henderson, Milner (Benteke 66’), Ibe, Firmino (Y), Lallana (Caulker 88’)
Subs
Ward, Smith, Allen, Lucas, Caulker, Teixeira, Benteke

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Campbell (Chamberlain 75’), Özil (Arteta 87’), Walcott (Gibbs 76’), Giroud
Subs
Macey, Gibbs, Chambers, Arteta, Gabriel, Chamberlain, Iwobi

Player Ratings

Cech - 6/10 - Probably could have done better for two goals, although one good save too
Bellerin - 7/10 - Good going forward, although not sure where he was for their first
Mertesacker - 7/10 - Copping flack, I have no idea why, he was pretty solid for me
Koscielny - 6/10 - Shaky for the first two goals
Monreal - 7/10 - Solid as usual
Flamini - 6/10 - Positionally a little suspect as our midfield was a bit open at times
Ramsey - 7/10 - An excellent finish, but his defensive work could have been better
Campbell - 8/10 - Another excellent showing, he’s completely changed my opinion on him
Özil - 7/10 - Strangely quiet for him, hopefully he’ll return to his usual form soon
Walcott - 7/10 - Busy but still not influencing the game in the way he’d like
Giroud - 8/10 - Would have been 10, but the open goal miss was a howler and costly too
Subs
N/A - No-one had sufficient time to contribute

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