Having played, and got decent results, against the rest of the "Big 4" so far this season, Liverpool was the final test. They came into the game top of the League, so the team to beat for the season so far - even though I don't really rate them all that much, they do seem to be doing all the things that Champions do. Winning when playing badly, being quite lucky with injuries, getting fortunate refereeing decisions - they have had things their way so far this season. Whether they have the bottle and experience to keep going through the run-in is another matter - and that is where I think they will come unstuck.I sat upstairs for this game - there was a fantastic view of the whole stadium, but it did seem a bit remote - like a TV view. I was very pleasantly surprised by the level of noise up there, I had expected there to be more atmosphere on the moon than in the Upper Tier, but there was singing and everything, throughout the game! Perhaps the fact that I was above the REDsection helped matters here, as the noise from downstairs definitely seemed to encourage people upstairs. There were a few muppets (including a Liverpool fan, who cheered when they equalised), but generally a good crowd near me. A pleasant surprise.
The first half started OK, got better, then got worse for Arsenal. We went ahead after a period of play where we looked increasingly dominant. The goal was a good one, the finish from Van Persie in particular was one to watch again on TV. Along with his goals at Chelsea, he seems to be showing this season that he is a big game player, and can score cracking goals in important games too. Towards the end of the half, things turned for the worse. Firstly, Liverpool equalised - a ball over the top exposed our obvious defensive weakness, and Robbie Keane (of all people) scored with an excellent finish. When the ball came over, our centre backs were far too far apart, and were totally outpaced. We knew that they were prone to it, but it was depressing to see it happen yet again. Then, right at the end of the half, Fabregas limped off with an injury that could cost us far more than a poxy equalising goal over the rest of the season. Grim stuff going into half time.
The second half started off OK, Arsenal looked quite bright. But, 15 minutes in, Adebayor's sending off really took the wind out of the home side. It looked like a very harsh decision, but then the ref seemed extremely fussy all game (except of course when Keane tackled Gael Clichy very hard early on - and he gave nothing). Generally, he kept blowing his whistle all the time - usually in Liverpool's favour. Adebayor's second yellow card was probably technically correct as a decision (and you have to question Adebayor's sanity, knowing he'd been booked, knowing the referee was fussy, but still going in for the challenge) - but it still makes Howard Webb something of an officious tosser. For much of the rest of the game, there was excellent focus in booing the referee for his anti-Arsenal decision making - there is no way he would have done that at Anfield or Old Trafford, and the crowd let him know what they thought of him.
After the sending off, Arsenal dominated much of the rest of the game. A few players seemed to clearly step up and take some responsibility, and the general team performance looked like one of those "backs to the wall" displays that you sometimes see from teams with 10 men - and better than we might have had with 11 men. Arsenal seemed to have all of the initiative, created the vast majority of the chances, and it was generally incredible how little ambition Liverpool showed. On their display for the last 25 minutes of the game, they did not look like potential or worthy champions - but then, they are much better than us at disposing of the crap teams!
Overall, a point was a very decent result in the circumstances. Our opponents were top of the league, we played with 10 men for half an hour, lost Fabregas at half time, and the referee was Liverpool's 12th man. At times towards the end, you thought we could have won the game - but given all that happened, it is hard to be too disappointed with the draw.
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