Liverpool 4 - 2 Arsenal

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Tuesday Apr 08 2008 07:45

Liverpool clinched a place in the Champions League semi-finals with a thrilling 4-2 win over Arsenal at Anfield, with the Reds sealing a 5-3 aggregate success.

Reds boss Rafa Benitez handed a starting spot to striker Peter Crouch, who partnered Fernando Torres in attack, while Arsene Wenger fielded Emmanuel Adebayor as a lone striker.

The Gunners made the brighter start and were rewarded for their efforts in the 13th minute with the opening goal.

A fluent attack ended with Jose Reina blocking Adebayor's effort, but when the ball was played back into the area by Alex Hleb, Abou Diaby ran in on the right to lash a low shot past Reina at his near post.

Arsenal took charge of the game after breaking the deadlock, with Reina forced into action to deny both Emmanuel Eboue and Adebayor, but the Reds hit back on the half-hour.Manuel Almunia had to tip away a deflected cross from Fabio Aurelio and from the resulting corner the unmarked Sami Hyypia buried a superb header back towards the near post from at least 12 yards out.

Liverpool then upped the pace towards half-time, while Arsenal were forced to replace the injured Mathieu Flamini, with Gilberto Silva taking over.

The home side maintained the upper hand in the early part of the second half and 21 minutes from time looked to have struck a decisive blow, when Torres took down a long ball forward, turned his marker and smashed a superb shot past the stranded Almunia.

Adebayor spurned a clear chance a matter of minutes later, but he made no mistake six minutes from the end to make the aggregate score 3-3 and put the Gunners in the ascendancy on away goals.

Sub Theo Walcott made an amazing break from deep inside his own half, leaving a succession of defenders in his wake, before presenting Adebayor with an unmissable chance from 12 yards.

However, within a minute Liverpool won a penalty as Ryan Babel crumpled under the challenge of Toure and Steven Gerrard kept his cool to bury the spot-kick to Almunia's right.

Arsenal's misery was complete deep into stoppage time as Babel raced clear to power home a shot from just inside the area, with Chelsea again lying in wait for Liverpool in the last four.

Live Commentary

  • 90
    Full-Time: LIVERPOOL 4-2 ARSENAL, aggregate 5-3 to the Reds.
  • 90
    A cruel ending for Arsenal, but Liverpool had done it again and the Gunners' hopes of silverware have disappeared.
  • 90
    LIVERPOOL 4-2 ARSENAL, BABEL races clear with the Gunners caught out and he buries his shot from just inside the area, game over.
  • 90
    Three minutes of added time to be played.
  • 89
    Skrtel makes a timely interception as Arsenal push forward in numbers, he has been rock-solid all night.
  • 88
    Chelsea await the winner here, they are now 2-0 up on Fenerbahce and 3-2 ahead on aggregate.
  • 87
    Torres trots off and John Arne Riise comes on in his place.
  • 86
    Incredible, Arsenal's celebrations lasted well under a minute and Liverpool are on the verge of the semi-finals.
  • 85
    LIVERPOOL 3-2 ARSENAL, GERRARD makes no mistake with his spot-kick to Almunia's right.
  • 85
    Toure is booked for the foul.
  • 85
    Amazing, a penalty at the other end as Babel crumples under the challenge of Toure.
  • 84
    LIVERPOOL 2-2 ARSENAL, Walcott makes an amazing run from deep inside his own half, beating any number of defenders and his final ball allows ADEBAYOR to sidefoot home.
  • 82
    Gerrard's curling shot from 30 yards is high and wide of the target, but it wastes a few more valuable seconds.
  • 81
    It's going to be a tense final few minutes.
  • 79
    Babel tries a shot from distance and it is deflected away for a corner, time is running out for Arsenal.
  • 78
    Crouch makes way from Ryan Babel.
  • 77
    Torres finds acres of space on the left, but his cross is misplaced for once.
  • 77
    The home fans are starting to sense another famous European win, but an Arsenal goal now could be a killer.
  • 75
    Torres skips past his marker and wins a corner over on the left.
  • 73
    A ball in from the left somehow finds it way through to Adebayor, but he scuffs his shot wide of the far post, what a chance for Arsenal.
  • 72
    Arsenal bring on Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott for Diaby and Eboue.
  • 72
    Mascherano breaks forward, but delays his pass and Torres is caught offside.
  • 70
    Another superb goal from the Spaniard, which has handed Liverpool the advantage.
  • 69
    LIVERPOOL 2-1 ARSENAL, a long ball forward is taken down by TORRES and he turns inside Senderos to smash a right-foot shot into the top cormer of the net past the stranded Almunia.
  • 68
    Mascherano brings down Diaby 35 yards from goal.
  • 67
    Arsenal work the ball across to the right, but Eboue's cross is far too deep for anyone in the penalty area.
  • 65
    Twenty-five minutes left of the inital 90, with extra-time and penalties on the cards at the moment.
  • 63
    Arsenal spring forward, with Fabregas feeding Eboue, but he lashes his shot into the sidenetting from a tight angle.
  • 62
    The game has slowed down a bit in the last couple of minutes, as the home fans boo Arsenal for knocking the ball around.
  • 59
    Clichy plays a quality ball back from the left by-line to find Hleb, but his shot is blocked and the high ball is easily gathered by Reina.
  • 58
    Liverpool have started to close Arsenal down a lot more quickly and the Gunners' passing has started to look a bit loose.
  • 57
    Nearly an hour played and it's anybody's guess who is going through to the semi-finals.
  • 55
    Eboue tries to play in Toure after another fine run by the right-back, but Aurelio covers superbly and clears away.
  • 53
    Torres does superbly down the right, his cross is only half-cleared and Aurelio's follow-up shot deflects wide off the waiting Crouch.
  • 51
    Kuyt is down after being caught in the face by Gilberto, it was a clash of heads.
  • 51
    Toure helps relieve the pressure with a run down the right wing.
  • 48
    It's Arsenal under pressure at the start of this half.
  • 46
    The Reds start quickly and Crouch forces Almunia into a save with a sharp turn and shot from just inside the area.
  • 46
    Liverpool start the second half.
  • 45
    Half-Time: LIVERPOOL 1-1 ARSENAL.
  • 45
    Two minutes of added time to be played, with Liverpool calling the shots at the present time.
  • 44
    Kolo Toure powers forward from right-back and wins a corner.
  • 42
    Gilberto Silva has taken over from the stricken Flamini.
  • 41
    Liverpool knock the ball around well and Eboue has to hack clear Aurelio's ball in from the left after an astute pass from Xabi Alonso.
  • 39
    The Frenchman is carried off to receive treatment, Arsenal are down to ten men at the moment.
  • 38
    Flamini is down with an ankle problem after a tussle with Gerrard.
  • 37
    Eight minutes to half-time and this has been a much better game so far than the first leg was.
  • 35
    Gerrard tries his luck from all of 30 yards, but his right-footer is just too high to worry Almunia.
  • 34
    The equaliser has changed the atmosphere in Anfield and Benitez is now busy urging his side on.
  • 33
    Jamie Carragher makes a rampaging run down the right and Almunia flaps at the cross before his defence get the ball clear.
  • 31
    The aggregate score is locked at 2-2 now and Arsenal have been punished for a lapse in concentration.
  • 30
    LIVERPOOL 1-1 ARSENAL, a Gerrard corner from the right finds the unmarked Sami HYYPIA and he buries a superb header back towards the near post from at least 12 yards out.
  • 30
    Aurelio's ball in from the left is deflected and Manuel Almunia has to tip the ball away from under his crossbar.
  • 28
    Flamini, Fabregas and Hleb are dominating the midfield with some pretty patterns, but it's causing little threat to the Reds backline.
  • 27
    All the fluency and passing is coming from Arsenal, but they need to find an end product and a second goal to try and make the tie safe.
  • 26
    Kuyt goes down in the area under Diaby's challenge, but the referee shows no interest.
  • 25
    Twenty-five minutes played and Liverpool have a lot to think about, but one goal will turn the tie around again.
  • 24
    Aurelio finds a bit of space 25 yards out, but with his weaker right foot he hits his shot high into the crowd behind the goal.
  • 23
    Dirk Kuyt looks like Liverpool best outlet at the moment, he's out on the right side of midfield tonight.
  • 21
    Diaby and Gael Clichy combine superbly down the left and Reina has to fist away the cross, with Adebayor closing in at the near post.
  • 20
    Mascherano catches Cesc Fabregas a little late and is lucky to escape a booking.
  • 19
    Liverpool are struggling to find a foothold in the game at the moment, with Benitez looking a little concerned.
  • 18
    Adebayor leads a quick counter-attack and Reina has to get down quickly to dive on Emmanuel Eboue's deflected shot from 20 yards.
  • 17
    Philippe Senderos is the first player to be booked, for a foul on Gerrard.
  • 16
    Reina looks a bit forlorn, he should have done better with Diaby's strike really.
  • 14
    Wenger is off the bench in celebration, it's advantage Arsenal, but you know Liverpool will hit back quickly.
  • 13
    LIVERPOOL 0-1 ARSENAL, the ball is played back in from the right flank by Hleb and DIABY runs through to crash a shot past Reina at his near post.
  • 12
    A fluent Gunners attack ends with Jose Reina blocking Adebayor's effort.
  • 11
    Crouch is starting to cause a few problems for the Gunners defence.
  • 9
    Torres comes alive and he almost plays in Steven Gerrard, Flamini gets back in the nick of time to avert the danger.
  • 8
    Mathieu Flamini takes the first corner of the game, Fabio Aurelio heads clear at the back post.
  • 7
    It's still the visitors doing all the pressing.
  • 5
    Hleb plays in Adebayor after a mistake by Martin Skrtel, but the offside flag is up.
  • 4
    It's a promising start for Arsenal, they are the side who need to score tonight.
  • 3
    Abou Diaby beats a couple of markers before losing out to a packed Reds defence.
  • 2
    Adebayor is barged off the ball by Javier Mascherano 25 yards from goal.
  • 1
    Arsenal get the game underway amid a cauldron of noise.
  • 0
    Gunners manager Arsene Wenger has Emmanuel Adebayor spearheading his attack, with Alex Hleb the main support.
  • 0
    Reds boss Rafa Benitez has handed a starting role to striker Peter Crouch, who will partner Fernando Torres in attack.
  • 0
    It's destination Anfield for the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Liverpool and Arsenal, with the tie evenly poised at 1-1.

Statistics

Liverpool
Shots on target 5
Shots off target 5
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 11
Offsides 4
Corners 5

Arsenal
Shots on target 4
Shots off target 2
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 7
Offsides 4
Corners 2

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