All in all, Arsenal dominated most of the second half, and would have been unlucky not to have gotten something out of the game. Liverpool's major achievement, I feel, was their stellar defending. Maybe it was some tactical genius by Roy Hodgson, but Liverpool completely had Arsenal's number throughout the second half and rarely gave them a chance to shoot or even get in the box. This much Liverpool can take from game.
As for the Joe Cole tackle, I don't care whether people are saying there was contact or not or citing the fact that Kolscielny came back out fighting fit for the second half after making a meal of the challenge before half time, the decision is simple: was it reckless? Yes. Did he intend to? Did he mean to hurt Kolsciely? It doesn't matter. Hodgson knows this, he's an intelligent fellow, and coming out with ridiculous comments like "He's not the kind to hurt opponents" and "he's never been sent off" makes him sound stupid. None of this matters. And if we're to go along those lines then I'll bring up what I thought when I heard such an opinion voiced: if that was Robbie Savage, there would be no discussion. End of.
So with one minute left, Reina drops the ball into his net and it ends 1-1 but little needs to be said about that. Fine, Liverpool dropped points with minutes remaining, but that's football - and as Andy Gray cleverly pointed out in slow motion, the sun was in his eyes! Thanks Andy.
The bottom line is that I can't see either one of these teams mounting a title run right now. Liverpool looked pretty solid at the back though and look safe for a top six finish if nothing more. And in all honesty, they were a lot better than I'd expected. And as for Arsenal, well the sooner they get their goalkeeping situation sorted out, the better...
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