Liverpool 2 Arsenal 1GERARD HOULLIER'S side are making their own history. Before Christmas you would have backed against them, but not now. Of the 32 games played in 2001, 19 have been won, just four lost. By February they had acquired the resolve and character that would see them come back from Freddie Ljungberg's 72nd-minute goal, and Arsenal's comfortable control, on Saturday.
In 14 days in mid-February Liverpool played five games in four competitions, won only two, but did not exit anything. Following a 1-1 draw in the league at Sunderland, they beat Roma 2-0 at home in the Uefa Cup, beat Manchester City 4-2 in the FA Cup, lost 1-0 in Rome and then drew 1-1 with Birmingham City in the League Cup final.
They then won that trophy on penalties, the first silverware of the Houllier era. That, and those other matches in a squeezed period, has brought Liverpool to where they are now: on the verge of a “brilliant” season, copyright Gerard Houllier. It is a hothouse experience, a hothouse education.
And the Reds, though they played in gold and blue in Cardiff, have burst into bloom. But more than that, they have grown in strength and stature. It’s as if the Liverpool players believe in themselves more now, and believe more in their manager.
Now Liverpool can defy Barcelona over two legs, win at Everton in the dying moments, win at Coventry when the opposition needed it more, and come back from trailing Arsenal with 17 minutes to go on a scorching hot day. What’s more, Liverpool did it when they were not playing that well. As has been said many times, that is a great quality to possess. Resolve.
When the rhythm is not there, when the opponents are playing at a higher tempo, a successful team must also have a goal-scorer who can erase all the previous mediocrity with one strike. Michael Owen did that here.
Until the time when the ball fell from Tony Adams’ arm and Markus Babbel’s head to Owen at an unpromising angle in the 83rd minute, David Seaman had made one save of note from Liverpool – an instinctive punch to Emile Heskey’s header three minutes after the interval.
Liverpool, it seemed, had been content to be the sponge for Arsenal’s attacking lather, especially in a first half of one Liverpool chance, an Owen shot blocked by Martin Keown. Arsenal had been unlucky by then, with Stephane Henchoz’s blatant 18th-minute goal-line handball somehow missed by both referee Steve Dunn and his linesman. The luck was to stay with Liverpool as Arsenal gathered themselves in the second half, goaded by Robert Pires and Thierry Henry.
That combination combined well near the hour, and Ashley Cole would have opened the scoring had Sami Hyypia not made the first of three match-saving clearances. Hyypia’s second came shortly before Ljungberg scored. It was from the same player, a Finnish header to negate the Swede’s chip. But, when Pires delivered another cute pass into the area, Ljungberg rounded Sander Westerveld and this time no one rescued Liverpool.
If not rampant, Arsenal were cruising. Three minutes after that Hyypia hoofed another goal-bound effort away, this time from Henry. It was when, not if, Arsenal got a second.
Then came Owen. With six goals in his last four games it was without a flicker of doubt that that bouncing ball from Babbel was smacked past Seaman. The afternoon changed. For the first time in the game Arsenal’s near reticent superiority had been challenged. Any response they had, though, was engulfed by Owen.
With just over a minute left, Patrick Berger, on for Vladimir Smicer, sent an arcing pass from deep midfield over Lee Dixon. It said: “chase me”.
Owen did so. He held off Dixon and, as he entered the Arsenal box with the ball on his supposedly weak left foot, Owen shot across Seaman before Adams could lunge in. It was not a great shot, just a crisp one. But it beat Seaman and it won Liverpool the FA Cup, their first for nine years.
ARSENAL:Seaman, Dixon (Bergkamp 90), Keown, Adams, Cole, Pires, Grimandi, Vieira, Ljungberg (Kanu 85), Wiltord (Parlour 76), Henry. Subs not used:Lauren, Manninger. Booked:Ljungberg. Goals: Ljungberg 72.
LIVERPOOL:Westerveld, Babbel, Henchoz, Hyypia, Carragher, Murphy (Berger 77), Gerrard, Hamann (McAllister 60), Smicer (Fowler 77), Heskey, Owen. Subs not used:Arphexad, Vignal. Booked: Hamann. Goals:Owen 83, 88.
Referee:S Dunn (Bristol).
