Arsenal: Van's the man again as captain nets double in late win

The ball was lofted over the back four with a deftness of touch from Alex Song that was quite exquisite. 


So soft was the touch that it hung in the air for what seemed an extra second as Robin van Persie sprinted clear of Jamie Carragher and Martin Kelly. And as it fell for the Arsenal striker, you sensed that here was the match-winning moment, two minutes into injury-time.


No matter that the angle was impossibly tight, that he was faced by a goalkeeper of Pepe Reina’s quality. Van Persie is unstoppable in these situations and so it proved.
Once again it was necessary to invoke Marco van Basten to convey the quality of the finish. Somehow the left-foot volley, struck first time, flew in at the near post and as Arsenal cavorted in celebration, Liverpool were left incredulous. Yet Van Persie still did not deserve to be man of the match.
That honour belonged to Wojciech Szczesny, for whom this represented a near perfect display of goalkeeping as he kept his side in the game in the long periods when they were dominated by Liverpool. 


‘If I was in the position of Liverpool it would be hard for me to take,’ said Arsene Wenger afterwards. Kenny Dalglish contented himself with: ‘The scoreline does not reflect the game. The result was the only disappointing thing about today because it was an unbelievable performance.’

Yet there it is. Arsenal take the three points and seemingly end Liverpool’s Champions League ambitions as well as moving to within four points of Tottenham in third, a team they trailed by 10 points — and two goals — less than a week ago.

A miracle against AC Milan on Tuesday seems implausible but in this turbulent season, nothing is impossible.

And though Szczesny and Van Persie were outstanding, this should actually read as a critique of how far Arsenal have fallen.
Song can be excused after his later contribution but the midfield trio of him, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky were so wasteful in possession that it was at times embarrassing to behold.

Yossi Benayoun, after his inspirational display last weekend, returned to anonymity while Kieran Gibbs, though left exposed by Benayoun, was defensively deficient. In fact, Arsenal resorted to long balls, which they invariably lost, more times than Wenger will care to remember.


Things improved after Arteta left with what looked a serious neck injury, though his replacement Abou Diaby was withdrawn after less than 30 minutes with a recurrence of his hamstring injury.


As for Liverpool, they were excellent in all areas except their finishing and those two moments when Van Persie found himself free. But as Dalglish pointed out: ‘We could have allowed him those two moments (and still won) with the opportunities we had.’
The litany of missed chances began with the 18th-minute penalty, in which Suarez deserves credit for the superb one-two he played with Dirk Kuyt, but less for the theatrical dive he performed as Szczesny raced out to block him.

So quickly did it happen that referee Mark Halsey could not be faulted but it was a carbon copy of the unjust penalty Szczesny conceded to Gareth Bale last Sunday. No matter. The Pole produced a superb save, diving to his right to block Kuyt.

Then, astonishingly, as the rebound fell kindly for Kuyt, Szczesny recovered to dive to his left and save what seemed a certain goal. When Liverpool’s goal did come, it had a degree of calamity about it, Laurent Koscielny inexplicably turning in Jordan Henderson’s cross on 23 minutes.

Another superb save followed from a Henderson strike on 25 minutes and Suarez hit the post from the rebound but, having contributed so little, Arsenal were level on 31 minutes. 


Sagna swung in a hopeful cross and Jamie Carragher allowed Van Persie to get in behind him and head home. The Liverpool onslaught resumed. Suarez’s finest moment came on 40 minutes, when he turned Thomas Vermaelen, beat Sagna and Koscielny to wriggle through on goal, only to be denied at point-blank range by Szczesny again.

And as half-time approached, Kuyt slid in for a Charlie Adam cross and hit the post before Gibbs cleared. Szczesny had to dive at the feet of Martin Kelly on the hour before the Liverpool right-back spoiled an excellent afternoon’s work by missing the simplest chance on 70 minutes from three yards out.

Arsenal were not without potency, notably on 72 minutes when Song and Gibbs set up Theo Walcott, with Reina saving the deflected shot well. Walcott did less well with a soft header on 79 minutes.

Still, one man is certain to score for Arsenal these days and maybe they were simply waiting for the ball to drop for him. For when it did in that 92nd minute, there was little doubt about the conclusion.