Arsenal continued to pressure, though, and it was slick passing coupled with poor goalkeeping that gave them the first goal. Good passing between Hleb, Fabregas, Diaby and Adebayor saw Adebayor through on goal at a narrow angle, before Reina rushed out to snuff out the threat. Liverpool could not clear the ball effectively, however, only getting it as far as Flamini, who brought the ball down on suspicions of handball (he used his upper arm = handball), before passing the ball to Hleb on the right. Hleb executed a quick one-two with Fabregas before playing the ball into the path of Diaby who was making a surging run into the box. His first touch took the ball further past Alonso and Skrtel, and his second was a stinging shot that beat Reina at his near post. Replays showed that the ball hit Reina's knee but the raw pace on the ball took it past the hapless keeper. 1-0 to Arsenal in the 13th minute.

Things were looking bleak for Liverpool, who had yet to threaten Wenger's side with any shots of note. Arsenal, however, looked more likely to make it 2-0. Eboue threatened with a left-footed shot after good work from Adebayor down the left, but on his weaker foot, he could not conjure enough strength to beat Reina. Arsenal nearly scored again when Diaby lost Kuyt before playing the ball down the line for Clichy, who guided his cross towards Adebayor. Reina came out early though, and punched away the danger.
Liverpool started to come to life after 20 minutes, with Fabio Aurelio and Jamie Carragher doing lots of good work on their overlapping runs on either flank. A quick throw in from Aurelio found Gerrard, who neatly passed the ball between 2 Arsenal players to set Aurelio free. His cross was deflected towards goal by Kolo Toure but Almunia was alert to palm it away, with Clichy heading the ball behind for Liverpool's first corner of the match.

Despite going a goal down, Liverpool had not looked flustered as the game had worn on, and the resulting corner reflected this. As Gerrard played an in-swinging cross into the box, time seemed to slow down as Hyypia evaded Senderos and headed the ball toward the far post. It sailed through the air in slow motion before hitting the inside of the post and rippling the back of the net. The header was so well placed that Fabregas, who was stationed at that very post, could not do a single thing about it as it flew over his head into the back of the net. A precision header, from very far out, from the charismatic defender who is about to serve his 10th year in Liverpool colours. Out of nothing, Liverpool had made it 1-1. Wenger could only shake his head in disbelief.



Benitez was signalling to Liverpool to press forward, and press forward they did. From a long Reina goal kick, Crouch flicked the ball to Torres, who was given a lot of space by the generous Senderos. A quick turn from the Spainard and without even glancing up, he pulled the trigger. Into the top corner the ball went, and with that emphatic strike, Liverpool were 2-1 up.




As the saying goes, "don't rest on your laurels". While the replays were still showing that (supposedly) great run of Walcott's, Babel decided to go on a run of his own, using great skill to swerve past 3 Arsenal defenders, before Toure decided to push and pull at him, causing him to fall in the penalty box. The referee had no hesitation: penalty to Liverpool and a yellow card for Toure. Wenger, who had been celebrating just seconds before, looked utterly disgusted. Adebayor could only put his hands on his head and stare in shock.

Up stepped Captain Fantastic (if you don't know, that means Steven Gerrard), with the weight of the red half of Merseyside on his shoulders. With a simple run up, he struck the ball so decisively into the top corner that even though Almunia guessed the direction correctly, he was helpless to stop the shot. 3-2 to Liverpool with 5 minutes remaining.

Arsenal were going all out now. Given a free kick in their own half towards the end, all the players except Fabregas and Almunia surged forward into Liverpool's penalty box. All of them looking to make it 3-3 that would send Arsenal through. Fabregas' resulting free kick was cleared by Kuyt straight into the path of Babel, who in contrast, was the only Liverpool player forward. Showing great pace to get to the ball ahead of Fabregas, and great strength to hold off the midfielder, he coolly slotted the ball past Manuel Almunia. 4-2 to Liverpool, and Arsenal were dead and buried.