The Reds came away from the Emirates with their second draw in a week against Arsenal. The Reds played really well in a much changed side and even took the lead in the first half. They gave a debut to young reserve tamer Damien Plessis and he played superbly well.
The Reds got the game started in the early kick off. I hadn't been holding too much hope out in a sense for this game but actually the team played really well as a complete unit.
Crouch signalled early intent by hammering a shot to the top corner after just two minutes only for Almunia to push it over the bar. Five minutes later and Crouch was nearly in round the back only for the offside flag to go up.
The Reds looked to get the ball down and play some nice stuff which on the day proved a good move with Arsenal looking particularly jaded. The home side were harbouring thoughts of the title and were picking a strong side again but they took an age to get going in the game.
John Arne Riise picked up the first booking of the game for a poor challenge on Gilberto although the ref waited for the ball to go dead before producing the card as he rightly waved play on in the first instance.
It was not long after this that Arsenal finally started to wake up in the game and started to have a better passage of play.
Just as Arsenal looked to be getting the better of the game up popped Peter Crouch with a great goal. A long goal kick forward was knocked down by Crouch to Benayoun who in turn set Crouch up. Crouch hit a superb right footed shot from just outside the box past Almunia for the lead. Other than the minutes just before it's certainly what the Reds deserved.
It allowed the Reds to go in one up at half time. Neither side made changes at the break and Arsenal got it re-started.
The second half saw much better play from the home side without massively troubling the Reds at the back.
Five minutes in to the half and Toure should've scored with a header off a corner kick but he put it just wide of the target.
Arsenal were back in the game just eight minutes in to the half when Bendtner scored. Jermaine Pennant got booked for a poor tackle on Traore. It was a needless tackle with Finnan covering.
Arsenal whipped a free kick in curling from their left towards Reina. For me Reina should have been clearing everyone and the ball but as he remained static Crouch was beaten in the air by Bendtner and the ball nestled in the back of the net.
Steven Gerrard replaced a hobbling Pennant on sixty six minutes. The midfielder seemed to pull up shortly before the sub was made although had done very little anyway.
As the home side continued to dominate much of the possession the Reds defensive midfielders and back line were working superbly. Plessis in particular was not overawed by anything going on in the game.
There were a couple of worrying moments for the Reds but as the clock ticked on the management suddenly had ideas that they might yet win the game. Voronin replaced Benayoun on seventy five minutes and then Torres played for the final ten minutes in place of Crouch.
Suddenly there was a feeling that we could rob this game back again. Voronin did have a half chance when he got in round the keeper but from a difficult angle made a hash of cutting the ball back. It wasn't to be though on the day and a draw was a fair reflection on the game as a whole.
MotM : Damien Plessis - as good a debut that I've seen for many a year. He came in and just looked like he had been playing there for years. He plays the simple ball effectively all the time and hopefully this is the start of something great for the youngster.
