I prayed this would not be the case this time round, and those prayers were answered ten minutes into the half. In fact they could have been answered just prior to this as Kolo missed a gilt-edged free header from a corner

Arsenal 1 Liverpol 1 – Premier League

I don’t quite know what to make of that performance. In fact I’m so lost for words that I’m gonna come back in a couple of hours and then write this piece…

*Two hours later*

…and I’m still lost for words. So before focusing on the performance, let me just say something about the result: this was not the day we lost the title. Nope, that came following our defeat at the Bridge, where it became evident that if the Mancs were somehow going to slip up (not bloody likely) then it’d be the Chavs who would take advantage, not us.

Prior to the game it was obvious that Rafa would rotate his side and this was proven as he made a whopping eight changes to the one that sneaked off with a draw in midweek, the most notable one being the return of a certain beanpole Crouch, who scored a hat-trick against us this time last year. This was no surprise, and to counter this I was certain that Le Boss would keep faith with Big Phil at the back, so I was shocked upon hearing that our centre-back pairing consisted of the diminutive Gallas and Toure. These two were flanked by Justin and Armand, which did not breed much confidence – in the last two games the pair have played together (if I am correct) we have conceded a whopping NINE goals (five at the Lane, four at Old Trafford). Elsewhere Gilberto came in for Hleb in midfield whilst Theo and Bendtner replaced Robin and Ade in a 4-5-1. I was rather hoping to see Theo up-front but alas it was not possible – a damning indictment of our lack of depth on the flanks.

The first half-hour of the game was painfully lacklustre on our part. The visitors controlled the play with their makeshift midfield and had the game’s best chances; the first being a Crouch thunderbolt from 30-yards out very early on that was destined for the top corner which Manuel did well to tip it away. The second saw Justin caught on his heels as Riise was played in behind our young ENGLISH full-back but thankfully it was on the Gingewegian’s wrong foot and he blasted it over.

Then after the half-hour mark it was as if someone had flicked a switch in the Arsenal players’ minds. All of a sudden the passing was flowing, the movement was back, and the urgency had been restored. Walcott cut in from the left to receive a pass, a good first touch saw him evading the first defender but he was stopped in his tracks by the last man. The ball broke to Bendtner in the inside-left channel and as he approached the ball he opened his body to curl it a la Bergkamp into the far corner, but his effort was tame and instead he sidefooted it into Pepe Reina’s hands. Had Theo broken through on his own I would have put money on him to score. I’ve got a good feeling about him these days and I think he’ll make it big next season.

A few minutes later Eboue stuffed up two golden opportunities, in both cases his final ball letting him down. The first came when he remained onside and drove into the box. With Cesc in the middle, Eboue just could not provide a crisp square pass to make it an easy finish. Instead his ball was a bobbly, bouncy one that was cleared by Steve Finnan. Then again Eboue failed to tee-up Cesc as he advanced into the area and looked to poke it forward to the Spaniard, but overhit his pass. He truly is Cristiano Ronaldo minus the end-product. If he could score and assist like the Portugeezer then all his histrionics would be forgiven, but because he cannot they are highlighted and he is scapegoated. From the resulting goal kick came the sucker-punch. In fact, to call it a sucker-punch is a disservice – I was wholly expecting Liverpool to score first, because that’s just the way life is for us these days. Reina launched his kick upfield, Benayoun caused problems supporting Crouch and the lanky one got away from Gallas to steer his shot into the bottom corner. 1-0 at half-time.

During the break I was trying to cast my mind back to the last time we had an enjoyable half-time, by which I mean we had the lead. Liverpool in Europe? No. Bolton last week? Fat chance. Chelsea? Nope. The four league draws? Hell no. The Milan ties? Nup. You have to go ALL the way back to February 11th to witness our last half-time advantage, which surprise surprise was the last game before the wheels fell off domestically – Blackburn at home, through a Big Phil header. That’s now an incomprehensible TEN games. I don’t think it is a coincidence at all. It has been said so many times that we need to revert back to the days of coming out all guns blazing and grabbing the early goal. To be fair, we were doing it early this season, but tired minds and tired legs have put paid to that. The sad thing is, back in the Highbury days when we used to go a goal down at home, it was like a personal affront. We’d come roaring back straightaway. These days it has become the norm to go behind, and instead of accelerating up the gears we simply go through the motions until the last 10 minutes when desperation begins to take over, e.g. the Villa and Boro games recently.

I prayed this would not be the case this time round, and those prayers were answered ten minutes into the half. In fact they could have been answered just prior to this as Kolo missed a gilt-edged free header from a corner. But finally the goal came, and just like midweek it was from a set-piece. Armand Traore won a free-kick out wide after being fouled by Jermaine Pennant. As soon as Cesc crossed it, I said “goal”. The arc on the ball, and the fact that it cleared the first man, meant it was begging to be headed home, and Bendtner duly obliged to partially compensate for his balls-up in Europe. A word for the man who won the free-kick – Traore went back up in my estimation again after this performance. Although he was sloppy with his control at times, I thought he defended well and was positive going forward, much improved from his ‘mares against Sp*rs and the Mancs. Good lad.Another player who redeemed himself in my book was Gilberto. A lot of claims have been levelled at him this season – lack of pace, poor distribution – and they have probably been true. But here I felt he was approaching his form of last season when he was our standout player. Sure, he is no Flamini. He doesn’t have the engine, the stamina nor the speed to hustle and bustle like the Flamster does. But he is/was the “Invisible Wall” and he showed the positional qualities that brought him that name, intercepting passes and winning headers. Even his passing was more accurate than usual, so fair play to him.

Straight after the goal Le Boss threw on Ade. With Liverpool’s susceptibility in the air it seemed like the perfect opportunity to lump the two big men forward, but infuriatingly we decided to play Bendtner and Theo either side of the Togonator. Although we had the momentum, we didn’t really create much of note. A few shots blocked, a few efforts hit wide, a ton of crosses failing to beat the first man. The closest we probably came was a Flamini effort comfortably saved by Reina, whilst Bendtner scurried through on the left towards the end but could not find a team-mate with his pass. Whilst we were exerting the pressure, it was the opposition who looked most dangerous on the break, especially following the introduction of their golden boys Gerrard and Torres. However it was the third of their substitutes, Andrei Voronin, who could have twice wrapped it up. The first time he ballooned his shot over the bar from 10 yards out after a cross from the right, and the second time some shocking communication between Gallas, Toure and Almunia saw the striker waltz past the keeper but was forced too wide to manufacture anything.

In the dying embers of the match we had two half-chances (if you can call them that) which really summed up our fortunes. Firstly, Cesc had his shirt pulled in the box but was denied a penalty. Granted it was not as blatant as the Kuyt/Hleb incident in midweek but the Liverpool player did have a fistful of the Spaniard’s shirt so it was a fair shout. And then, deep into injury time, Ade poked the ball through for Hleb on the left of the box. If he was Robin van Persie, Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Wayne Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo, he would have blasted it first-time into the net. But of course, he is Alexander Hleb, the man who would square the ball in front of an open goal. He tried to control the ball but lapsed and was forced wide, the move soon petering out. And that was that.

I wasn’t particularly disheartened at the end of the game. The title went a while back. The players are knackered; they have punched so far above their weight for two-thirds of the season that it has caught up on them in the last few months. That’s not their fault. It’s due to a lack of depth in the squad – whether that is due to bad luck with injuries or poor transfer policy is a matter to be discussed another day. We can only hope that the surroundings and the atmosphere and the magnitude of the second-leg on Tuesday can help them to raise their game like they did in Milan. Otherwise, just like in the Godfather movie trilogy, the third instalment may well turn out to be the most disappointing for The Arsenal.