Posted 09/04/08 07:15 | www.football365.com
The Fourth Estate provide their explanations for how Liverpool beat Arsenal. Apparently it had nothing to do with the first-half injury to Mathieu Flamini or dodgy refereeing. Victory is always written up for the victors...
'When the noise had subsided, the victors and vanquished departed, when Anfield was at last silent, empty and still, the question remained: why? What was it that possessed a defender as experienced as Kolo Touré to take fright, to be so terrified at the prospect of lasting just six minutes at this remarkable arena that he should give away the penalty that cost his team the game and the dream of a first Champions League crown?
'And the answer will come back: it was Liverpool. It was this club, this particular team, and what they have come to represent in Europe. Touré was disturbed by the legend of a Liverpool who will not lie down, who return from the dead like The Shape in John Carpenter's Halloween films. Remember that scene in the pitch-black bedroom when the monster rises again, his white mask all that is visible in the darkness? On nights such as this, Liverpool are like that: unstoppable, remorseless, their power inexplicable' - Martin Samuel, The Times.
'There are the good Anfield European nights, there are the great ones and then, like this one, there are those remarkable occasions which fall into a different category altogether. This morning Liverpool awake to contemplate the prospect of a third Champions League semi-final against Chelsea in four years, although how they got there is a story that will outlive whatever else happens this season.
'It is that man again. In the final 21 minutes of last night's game, Rafael Benitez made a crucial substitution, watched his side win the tie, then lose it and then win it all over again. In his precise, meticulous world it was perhaps not how the Liverpool manager planned it but it certainly made for an absorbing, compelling spectacle. How does such a control freak of a man conspire to preside over so much joyously chaotic football?' - Sam Wallace, The Independent.
'Liverpool so often come through to win at this remarkable ground in the Champions League. Unlike the encounters of 2005 and 2007, this year's semi-final will be settled by a return leg at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were due a change of venue and will be all the more relieved after studying this uncanny struggle' - Kevin McCarra, The Guardian.
'Another chapter in Anfield's rich European history owed much to another hand expertly played in the Champions League by Rafael Benítez. Arsenal will rue the lapse in concentration that squandered this tie for as long as it takes to lift their first European Cup or the time it takes the Liverpool manager to display a weakness that compares. The former would appear the shorter wait.
'Perhaps last night's return to the fold will influence that outlook but career decisions can wait. Crouch offered a remedy to the failings Benítez had identified in his team's first-leg display, with the Spaniard bemoaning the cheap possession given away in attack, goals conceded at set pieces and the relative comfort of William Gallas and Philippe Senderos in defence' - Andy Hunter, The Guardian.
'As the party intensifies in Liverpool, the wake will be long and bitter in north London. Arsene Wenger's failure to strengthen a young side, to dip into a war-chest rumoured to contain £60 million, now looks an incredibly expensive mistake. Contrast with Benitez's January purchase of Martin Skrtel, as imposing a centre-half as Arsenal's Philippe Senderos is weak.
'Ultimately, though, it was Steven Gerrard's penalty that won it for Liverpool, completing Arsenal's week of spot-kick misery. On the long road north, the joke amongst Arsenal fans had been that they prayed the tie would not go to penalties, because they would be denied all five. Resentment still lingered over the two spot-kick appeals turned down at the Emirates in the first two games of the clubs' epic trilogy' - Henry Winter, The Daily Telegraph.
'After the bold prediction of the previous evening, the cold reality of another crushing defeat faces Arsene Wenger this morning. A season of so much promise now appears to be over for Arsenal, whatever Wenger might now say about Sunday's trip to Manchester United.
'Beaten by the brilliance of Fernando Torres, a Steven Gerrard penalty, and a last-gasp clincher by substitute Ryan Babel, Wenger's confidence in his team but more crucially in Philippe Senderos was misplaced' - Matt Lawton, The Daily Mail.
'Enormous credit, though, to Liverpool for the manner in which they refused to accept anything less than outright victory. Huge congratulations to them for writing another glorious chapter in the history of a team that refuses to die.
'But your heart bleeds for Arsenal. What a cruel and unfathomable game football can often be.
'Just when they appeared to have pulled off one of the most remarkable results in the history of the competition, fate ripped the carpet from under them.
As the whistle went, the brilliant Cesc Fabregas somehow took himself over to applaud the away fans. His team-mates hauled themselves off, blood and sweat now joined by tears' - Steven Howard, The Sun.
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