Arsenal have once again managed to blow a lead after conceding late in extra time in their 2-2 draw against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday evening.
The Gunners were in good form going into the game and were hands on favourites, despite their 5-1 thumping in the same fixture last season. The Reds have so far failed to emulate their form from the previous season, when Suarez single handedly carried them to the top of the Premier League.
However it was all Liverpool once the game started, as the Gunners misplaced way too many passes and failed to stitch together any credible attacks. The Reds were just coming back at us with attack after attack.
It was not very Arsenal like in the opening 30 minutes as we normally dominate the possession, but it was quite shocking to see that we only had the ball for 25% of the time in the opening half an hour.
We were very lucky not to concede despite Liverpool dominance and just when it looked that we might scrape through to the break without going behind, Coutinho scored from close range at the stroke of half time thanks to a miss pass from Giroud. However that was not the end of the half as Debuchy scored from a header from a Sanchez free kick.
The Gunners started the second half on the offensive and were rewarded immediately with a goal around the hour mark when Giroud finished between the legs of the keeper. We suddenly switched off after the goal and the Reds once again started dominating.
Wenger made some defensive substitutions and the Anfield club’s chances of getting back into the game were further dented when Borini was sent off. However even with 7 defensive players on the pitch and facing a 10 man team, we weren’t able to take all three points as Skrtel scored of a corner in the 97th minute.
There is no point in blaming Wenger for the draw because it’s unacceptable to concede against a 10 man team when you have 7 defensive players facing off against a 10 men team. The players should take responsibility as the manager can only put out the best possible 11 and it’s up to the players to perform, which they didn’t do in this case.
We only had 36.5% possession which is our worst in the last decade and that’s not it as Liverpool were allowed 27 shots at Wojciech Szczesny’s goal, which is also our worst. When we see at the stats it is evident that we were at our worst, so getting a point isn’t that bad after all but the players should take more responsbility in the coming games if we are to have any hope of finishing in the top four.
How do you rate Arsenal’s performance against Liverpool?
