And what can you say? Great result - lousy (but hilarious) way of getting it, and all in all, a good enough one point for a tricky first fixture of the season. Would've been nice to have a West Brom and 6-0, but I suppose even then, as we'd done in recent seasons past, we might just have limped to a desultory 1-0 home win. Anyways:
The first half was pretty decent. We started well, the away supporters were on song in the Anfield Road stand (where I was, except that I was smack in the middle of Pool supporters, praying for my life and lives of my family), and the Pool fans really didn't have much to shout about. With a couple of minutes to go before half time, I trot off for an early toilet break, and lo and behold, Anfield erupts in an almighty roar - you knew something was up, and it wasn't a Liverpool goal. Arsenal perhaps? I finish off asap, rush back onto the stands, and right below me - is Koscielny in a heap, and the entire stadium venting the vilest of bile at Sagna, Koscielny and the Arsenal supporters nearby. Oh well. Junior Arsewiper tells me a Pool player (he could not see) with four letters in his name was sent off. Kuyt? Cole? Didn't dare ask anyone around me, lest I give away a little smile/smirk in reply.
Half time, and we look comfortable. On top, man up, sitting pretty.
Second half. And it falls apart. Typical that we let in the goal from a sloppy pass out of the danger area from Arshavin. Who had a horrid horrid game he had. Lazy, clueless, just nowhere. He the man who's scored 5 at Anfield?
If there's nothing worse than falling behind to Liverpool, it's falling behind to a goal from David Ngog of all people, and a belter at the near post. Should Almunia have done better? Perhaps. His dive was pretty pathetic. But what can you say.
From then on, for some unknown reason, Liverpool with 10 men pile on the pressure. On us. With 11, who should be piling it on ourselves. This, I suppose, is what you get when you have nobody on the pitch as captain. A real captain, to lead by example, slap a few people. Pardon the lingo, but who the f__ do we have as captain? Almunia. He, who most people would rather not even see on the pitch, and would only begrudgingly accept as the better option than Fabianski.
So we labour on, searching for something, anything. Couple of minutes left, and right below us - it happened in such slow motion that even I didn't realise it was a goal - Reina gets what he deserved. Yessiree. I believe in magic, I believe in Karma, and Reina's assholic display with Cesc in his World Cup celebrations have borne great Arsenal fruit. Twat.
You could never tire of watching that goal. A thing of beauty. Thanks, my Spanish mate.
As for individual performances, a couple of standouts: Vermaelen/Koscielny were pretty decent. Sagna was great watching marauding down the right. It's so much better watching it live, when you actually see his work rate up close. Wilshere was excellent for the time he was on.
Elsewhere, Chamakh had nothing to work on, for lack of anything worthwhile from Nasri or the flanks. Arsh was a waste of space, and Diaby? Well, again, the great thing about actually being there is that you can see up close the frustration that people like Sagna had. I tell you, it's a left-over French thing. How many times did I see Sagna throw his hands up in frustration. You could almost hear the cuss and the pfffft.
As far as first games go, I'll take this any time. There was always the danger of new manager euphoria getting Pool through, of us being jaded, of us feeling the effects of being Song-less, RVP-less and Cesc-less. In his 10-15 minutes on the pitch, you could see the added quality that RVP brings. Bring on Blackpool.
A coupld of last words on Anfield itself. Maybe the minuses first. For sure, this is a stadium stuck in the 1970's. Decrepit, creaking at the seams, and even Arsewiper Jr asked why there weren't any jumbotron video screens. I wonder too. Even Highbury had them. They'll have to move out, and soon. Nothing around the stadium seems to be made out for the 21st century.
But the pluses. My word. The atmosphere and the noise. Now I know what Anfield is all that it's made out to be. Scary? Intimidating? Overwhelming? All of the above? I mean, when Torres came on - the roar was like nothing I'd heard before. Having been at Highbury, I can safely say that even there, at a smaller and more intimate stadium, there was nothing quite like it. We've got quite a way to go to replicate it. Of course, it helps that the Scousers are a bunch of raving lunatic fans, but hey, I suppose it really does work as the 12th player. (Or 11th as it was on Sunday). I'm off to Old Trafford tonight, so let's see what it's really like there as well.
So my hat's off to the Pool. A couple of pics courtesy of the Arsewiper then.
This the arrival of the away bus. You gotta wonder. In the stands, you'll hear the worse of the worst expletives directed at them, but up close, all they want to do is take a picture of 'em? Anyhows, I did manage a few peeks at Theo and the Arsh at least.
Speaking of the Arsh. Here he is at full trot. Probably the most energetic he looked all day.
Here's a little rare RVP sighting too, at warm up:
Of course, my favourite moment:
As for the game itself, two of my more favouriter pics:
That's it I suppose. A good day out in all senses, and here's to our first home game next weekend. Good and bad, I'll be watching it in the comfort of my sofa in front of the telly. Ciao.
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