It was a misty autumnal morning as we set off to the North West in search of three elusive points at Anfield. Four hours later and after a quick swap of drivers, we drew up at our reserved parking space, a drive in a modern development of houses which were, literally, within sight of Anfield. Five minutes later we were in the ground.
As always here, the local stewards, while numerous, were pleasant, helpful and funny. I was patted down by a middle aged steward who explained that I needed to open my jacket for inspection and would I mind him doing it as he could see I had my stick in one hand and my phone (and hence ticket) in the other. I replied not at all, in fact in was the best offer I’d had in weeks. He guffawed and said in his broad Scouse accent “me too lad, me too!”.
I think Anfield is a magnificent stadium. The away fans are given a very similar slot to those at the Emirates, all lower tier, and about half of the Anfield Road end. Like at Villa Park, every seat has a fantastic view. Liverpool were an early adopter of safe standing and the rails are at a perfect height. I pointed out to my son, like I always do, the spot from which Mickey Thomas fired home that goal to win the league in 1989.
The team news was good and interesting.
Raya, Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori, Bruno, Rice, Ødegaard, Noni, Havertz, Tzolis.
Before the game, we got the usual rendition of ‘You’ll never walk alone‘. I’m sure you all know that it was written for a Broadway musical, ‘Carousel’, in 1956, and not by Gerry and the Pacemakers. Still it got the Anfield faithful up and roused, until the MC announced the Remembrance Day ceremony, the laying of poppy wreaths and the playing of the Last Post. These were observed, as you would expect from two classy clubs, in total silence.
So we were off, kicking towards the Kop. We started really well. Young Nyoni announced himself by two Achilles raking tackles on Ødegaard and Havertz and was lucky to escape without a card. Mateta was sent off yesterday for Palace for a very similar tackle.
We were buzzing around the Liverpool penalty area when, in the 16th minute, we scored a beautiful team goal. Ødegaard recycled it to Noni, on our right, and he laid in Rice on the overlap. Declan fizzed a perfect ball across the 6 yard box, defeating the defenders there, to find Kai on the back post to fire it in. Cue quite delirious celebrations in the away end. When they eventually calmed down I found the guy from the row behind me reaching across me to the row in front of me. His spectacles had flown from his head in the scrimash and were lying on the floor. Fortunately we were able to retrieve them and return them safely.
‘Waka waka‘ and ‘1-0 to The Arsenal‘ rent the Liverpool air.
Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal (Havertz, 16)
Now, how would they respond? Very well, as it happened. For the next 30 minutes they laid siege to our goal. Barcola was being given lots of space on his left wing and created all sorts of mischief. A lovely cross almost found Isak. Later viewing of highlights showed me that he was being tugged back by Timber and that we were very fortunate not to have a penalty awarded against us. A few moments later, a cross did reach MacAllister unmarked on the penalty spot and he should have scored with a header, but blazed it over, to the great relief and hilarity of the Gooners behind the goal. Wirtz hit the crossbar, with Raya beaten, with what looked like another intended cross.
At half time we were still winning 1-0 but a Liverpool goal looked a certainty. But in the second half it didn’t arrive. The subbing on of Myles for Bruno added control to our midfield. Bruno is looking a game changing super sub but hasn’t done well in the games he’s started. Later, we ended the game with two left backs on the left wing as Hincapié came on for Tzolis, negating the dangerous Ngumoha who came on for an out of sorts Gakpo. Merino came on for Ødegaard and Gyökeres for Havertz. Liverpool rained in cross after cross but they were all headed away comfortably. They did not have a shot on goal in the whole game. Shot after shot from outside or just in the area were blocked
Late on, a clearance found Ødegaard on the edge of our box. He was fouled and a free kick given. MacAllister took extreme exception to this and stood over our Captain who was prone on the turf, screaming at him and finally pushing his head into the ground. Our lads naturally took exception to this and rushed to the skipper’s defence. Timber was to the fore, as was Noni, who was on a yellow card, and who went face to face with MacAllister. There was the very slightest touch of heads but the odious Argentinian went down dramatically clutching his face and stayed down for two minutes. Cheating South American bar steward! Andy Madley used his common sense and didn’t start waving red cards about. He was strongly backed up after the game by various media commentators who saw nothing in it.
The longer the second half went on the less likely it seemed that Liverpool would score. In the 96th minute Madley blew the final whistle and we had won at Anfield for the first time since 2012. Your correspondent had never seen us win there live. The Arsenal faithful, many of whom were in the same boat, were jubilant.
‘That’s why we’re champions! That’s why we’re champions!‘
‘Say we are, top of the league
‘Say we are top of the league!‘
I believe Gary Neville (who he?) described this as a defensive masterclass. It’s not often he gets anything right but it certainly was. The whole defence was magnificent. I’m going to single out Ezri Konsa who was superb, but they were all good. It was a clear MOTM performance from Declan Rice, both in defence and attack. Truly, he is the heartbeat of our team.
Off and into the car by just before seven. Unfortunately the M6 (closed near Birmingham) and the A14 (closed near the M6) did their worst and it took six hours to get home. We stopped briefly for a quick KFC at Keele services. It’s not all award winning Indian restaurants in our life on the road you know.
Our first five away games have been Villa, Sunderland, Brighton, Forest and Liverpool. From those same games last season we took five points. This season we have taken 12. Next up Slavia Prague (good luck to CER who assures me he will not be joining any stag parties whilst over there) and then our last game before the Interlull will be Hull at home, in an old school 3pm kick off.
Magnificent account of a magnificent day and performance C100. I think Anfield is a remarkable ground and our record against Liverpool is the worst against any side but we weathered a real storm yesterday in an incredible way. This time last year we went through a number of games where the opposition didn’t ge5 a shot at goal but to do it at Anfield against that quality of attacker was remarkable.
Your point about Nyoni was interesting. Mateta was vilified for his lunge but Nyoni received scant criticism for identical tackles .
Everyone played well but special props to Declan, Ezri and MLS who tightened us up in midfield. You describe Bruno exactly . He doesn’t justify a starting place but he can break games open as a sub.
A great night to be a Gooner and as you say a big improvement in points gained on a season in which we won the title
Great reporting from the front line, C100, cheers!
Excellent report Countryman. Anfield is a great ground, Liverpool a fantastic club and we don’t win there often. Can’t say I enjoyed watching it much, but the afterglow has been lovely.
I am unsurprised that all the British papers focused on the shirt pull non-penalty rather than our defensive brilliance. MacAllister really is the worst. Just awful.
We are top of the league!
Cheers C100!
A superbly atmospheric and epic account of a bravura performance that matches the tale of Thermopylae except that our heroes weren’t outnumbered, slain nor defeated. A game that will live long in the memory. Our goal is a thing of beauty. Declan is our Leonidas!
I confess to being partial to a spot of KFC myself. I’m not in the least partial to McAllister, and never have been. A thoroughly vile piece of work. His daemonic smile as he lured Noni in is straight out of The Shining.
A wonderful read, C100. What a day to be at Anfield, one that will live long in the memory.
A superb account of a grand day out for our travelling dynamic duo. My son worked while a student in a KFC franchise. He never eats there now and has cautioned the rest of our family accordingly. Just saying.
Perfect summary of the game, the excellence of our team and a defensive masterclass. I think Bruno is very good against lesser teams (and us!) but less able than MLS against more capable opponents. Konsa and Declan were superb and I thought Noni had his best game so far although MA8 (and probably Heinze) have work to do still on his defending.
Only outstanding question in my mind is why Victor has to play in his wellies while everyone else gets to sport Adidas latest model footwear? It’s a real puzzler. Slows him down and ruins his touch and ability to jump.
An interesting observation about Guimarães. I had said at half-time that he hadn’t been very visible, although, looking at his stats after the game, he had done more defensive work than I had realised.
I should also mention that starting Timber over White was a good choice to counter Barcola. The Frenchman reached a remarkable top speed of 35.5 kph. There are slower Olympic sprinters than that. Yet Timber (top speed 32.4 kph) was never outrun so good was his one-on-one defending.
This perhaps is the strongest testament to the immensity of our defence: since records were first kept in 2003/04, Liverpool had never before failed to register a shot on target in a Premier League game at Anfield. That was a run of more than 400 games.
Wonderful report, c100. I suppose I am willing to sacrifice reading about your visit to an award winning Indian restaurant if you say we got all three points on our visit to Anfield. 😎
Say we are top of the league
Say we are top of the league
Fine photo of the debonair gents at the top of the page. The photographer should be commended for conjuring it.
Thanks everyone for the very kind comments. I thought you might enjoy this, written in characteristic Le Grove style.
https://open.substack.com/pub/legrove/p/serie-a-rsenal-performance?r=17skr0&utm_medium=ios
The statistic that is most impressive is that as C100 points out in his report that while we lost at Brighton where we won last season we’ve beaten Forest ( 1 point last season) , Sunderland ( 1) , Liverpool ( 0) and Villa (0) . And at home we’ve won against three teams we beat last season and new boys Coventry . A seven point improvement over a season where we won the league by seven points and our nearest current rivals are almost certain to be relegated .
What’s not to like about that ?
Adam Clery on the game:
Re: TTG @13, “A seven point improvement over a season where we won the league by seven points and our nearest current rivals are almost certain to be relegated”.
and your related question, “What’s not to like about that?”
Frankly, I am still searching for an answer to that one but have found nothing so far. Ignorance is bliss, or so they say. 😀
Brilliant, atmospheric report as usual, C100 ! Seems to have curried a lot of f(l)avour above. Beautiful open play goal. Have you ever tried “limbs” with a Golden Retriever ? Don’t ! 😱
The second day compounds the pleasure after an 0-1 victory at Anfield. I speak from experience, believe me. Can’t wait to see the feeling tomorrow will bring.
Cheers C100 for an enticing report. What a great time you had ( apart from the KFC but needs must I guess ). A win at Anfield for us has been hard to come by in the Premier League era so any win is a cause for celebration. To deny the dippers a shot on target is a unique feat and testament to the level the whole team performed and to cap it all with a high class well worked goal.
The champions are top of the league again!
Thanks C100, great stuff as always and glad you both got to enjoy
a victory at Anfield.
Finally back in Japan and got to sit down and watch the game.
Nothing to disagree with from the report or various posts –
keeping north of 400m* quid’s worth of attackers from a shot
on target is outstanding defence.
* wuz they robbed?
Personally, I’d have given MacAllister the rarely spotted
double yellow – once for the initial reaction and the second
for feigning injury.
ON@20 – Cone on, Matt. You know that’s one of the prescribed Arsenal-Only offences.
Great report, C100. I know how much you love your trips to Liverpool, so it must have been amazing to experience a PL victory. I must say, celebrating with KFC is something of a culinary comedown from Trullo though!
Regarding the stag parties in Prague, there are intentions and there are promises. Mine is the former.
@14 Thanks Ned, good points as usual from Clery. Loved the screenshot
of Cala / Timber operating as our twin centre-forwards, can’t remember
Pat Rice and Bob McNab ever doing that, though they’d have got a right
bollocking if they did 😃