Match Reports
Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool Liverpool's short reign as FA Cup holder's is over, after a defeat at Highbury in a repeat of last year's final. Liverpool started much better than their recent league game at Highbury, looking to attack as often as possible, and Owen was presented with the game's first chance. A through ball was played for Owen to chase through, and despite only having the keeper to beat, Owen took his chance early and his effort was saved by the legs of Richard Wright. The first 25 minutes was fairly evenly matched with the Liverpool back four dealing very well with Bergkamp and Henry, and Liverpool's strikers being kept equally quiet by Arsenal's centre backs. On 28 minutes though, Arsenal took the lead through Dennis Bergkamp following an excellent build up. Richard Wright's long goal kick was controlled by Henry, who played a one two with Van Bronckhorst before a good cross to Bergkamp, whose glancing header into the far post gave Dudek no chance. Within a minute though, Liverpool were almost level. Nicolas Anelka received the ball from a tight angle at the edge of the penalty box, and with no support, he went for goal. Anelka's shot hit the angle of the goal though, and went out for a goal kick. Arsenal totally dominated the final 15 minutes of the half, and were perhaps unlucky not to have extended their lead when Dudek was forced to tip a shot by Wiltord onto the bar as Arsenal continued to put pressure on the Liverpool back four. Emile Heskey was booked at the end of the half after half a dozen minor offences as his frustration clearly appeared to boil over. Jari Litmanen made a rare appearance in the second half, coming on for Nicolas Anelka. Arsenal continued to dominate after the interval, and Liverpool were on the back foot for most of the opening stages of the second half, with Henry being given acres of space on the left to run at the Liverpool defence on countless occasions at the start of the half. But Arsenal still could not find another goal despite the amount of possession that they were enjoying in the Liverpool half. The game started to get out of control though, with three players sent off in as many minutes, with just over 20 to play. Firstly, Keown was given his marching orders for a foul on Owen when Owen was racing through on goal. Richard Wright was also charging towards the ball, which he eventually won, but in being held back by Keown, Owen was prevented from having a chance of winning the ball and as the last man, the referee had little option but to bring out the red card. Just a couple of minutes later, Bergkamp lunged into a challenge with two feet, and despite just failing to make contact with Carragher, the referee deemed it to be dangerous, and Bergkamp was given a straight red card. Then, as Bergkamp was making his way back to the dressing room, some Arsenal fans threw coins at Carragher, one of which he threw back into the crowd, immediately in front of the linesman. Carragher also, was given a straight red card, and will now face a three match ban. Michael Owen came close in the final minute, but a shot from a tight angle carried little power, and Richard Wright was able to comfortably keep it out. Arsenal played out the final few minutes, simply holding onto the ball for as long as possible, and were ultimately deserving winners, by a margin which was a fair reflection on the game. It was Liverpool's first defeat away from Anfield in any cup competition for over a year, with their last being the 2-1 defeat against another London club, Crystal Palace.
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