Nevertheless when they do score Arsenal appear incapable of ugly goals

Nevertheless, when they do score, Arsenal appear incapable of ugly goals. Last night they played with grace, with Bergkamp dropping deep into midfield, delivering shimmering passes One flick in the eighth minute fed Henry’s raging pace. The striker’s first touch was poor allowing Dudek time to make a fine save. The ricochet, however, fell perfectly for the in-rushing Robert Pires to give Arsenal the lead.Throughout Liverpool’s long painful decline, their central defence has held reasonably firm, but last night they failed to cope with set-pieces and defended too high up the pitch, leaving themselves open to the incisive passes from Bergkamp and Pires.Patrick Vieira’s shove in the back of Sami Hyypia meant his header from Gilberto Silva’s corner was ruled out but several minutes later there was no foul as the Brazilian’s corner was met by Pascal Cygan’s head and cleared off the line by his compatriot, Bruno Cheyrou. Four minutes after the restart Dudek dropped a straightforward corner and but for another hack off the line from Heskey, Sol Campbell would have found his name on the scoresheetSven Goran Eriksson had long left Anfield by the time Heskey equalised but the England manager would have noted a display from David Seaman which ensured Liverpool in general and Michael Owen in particular did not inflict greater punishment.Twice Seaman denied Owen in a straight fight between striker and goalkeeper. One shot clattered against the Yorkshireman’s legs, while for the second Seaman correctly guessed which corner of the net Owen would aim for.

For someone not considered good enough to keep goal for his country by many, this was no mean performance However, in the 53rd minute, Seaman was finally beaten. Wenger’s presence on the touchline suggested he sensed danger and as the ball was laid back for John Arne Riise, a fierce drive into the net below the Kop confirmed his fears.They did not enjoy their lead for long, although in the 10 minutes or so Liverpool were level they displayed enough self-belief to suggest an unlikely victory might be snatched. Instead, Bergkamp restored Arsenal’s lead, with a strike that lacked the Dutchman’s customary grace, taking an evil deflection off St?ane Henchoz which would have left any keeper in the world stranded.Liverpool (4-4-2): Dudek 8; Carragher 5, Henchoz 4, Hyypia 6, Riise 7; Diouf 4 (Baros, 81), Murphy 6 (Diao, 79), Gerrard 7, Cheyrou 5 (Smicer, 70, 4); Heskey 7, Owen 7. Substitutes not used: Traor?Arphexhad (gk).Arsenal (4-4-2): Seaman 7; Lauren 5, Campbell 5, Cygan 6, Cole 6; Gilberto Silva 6, Vieira 6, Parlour 7, Pires 8; Bergkamp 8 (Luzhny, 85), Henry 8. Substitutes not used: Jeffers, Wiltord, Van Bronckhorst, Taylor (gk).Referee: M Halsey (Birmingham).. Kevin Keegan will give Robbie Fowler his Manchester City debut at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday after the resurrected deal to sign the striker from Leeds went through yesterday. “I simply did not spend enough time talking to Robbie telling him what I thought he could do for City I did not so my job properly as manager He is not a piece of meat, not a commodity.

I did not take the time to make him feel wanted.”The deal requires City to pay £3m up front for the former Liverpool forward with the rest based on payments of £500,000 every 15 appearances.. The Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips has urged his team-mates to throw caution to the wind against Charlton on Saturday and fire themselves out of relegation trouble. The 29-year-old England international is determined to come out with all guns blazing as Howard Wilkinson’s shell-shocked side attempt to restore the fortress tag to the Stadium of Light after a dreadful run of results on Wearside. I would never sit here and have a go at our supporters, but you can sense that they’re on the edge of their seats. They’ve had enough, and you can’t blame them.”It’s up to us now. Starting on Saturday, we’ve just got to get into the attitude of ‘Sod it, we’ve got to have a go’ It’s a simple as that.”No one wants to mention relegation But we’re in it – it’s as simple as that.