ARSENAL FANS ONLY!!! (PART 3)

(tak boleh panjang² nanti ada liverpool fans marah)

ARSENAL 2-1 LIVERPOOL
Barclays Premiership
Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
Sunday, March 12, 2006, 4pm (UK time)

source : www.premierleague.com

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insisted Liverpool’s fear of losing the game allowed Thierry Henry to capitalise on a Steven Gerrard backpass to hand the Gunners victory at Highbury.

Wenger’s side were on course to win - courtesy of Henry’s 21st minute opener - when Luis Garcia headed an equaliser 15 minutes from time.

But Henry seized on a wayward ball from Liverpool skipper Gerrard to round Jose Reina for the winner in the 84th minute at Highbury.

When Liverpool had Xabi Alonso sent off for a second bookable offence two minutes earlier, Wenger feels Liverpool got scared.

“We deserved to win the game overall," Wenger said. "When Liverpool equalised I was a little bit scared for a while that we could lose it.

“It looked like we had had a mental blow because we had so many opportunities to score before then.

“But when they went down to ten men they got scared to lose the game. It was a great team performance. We played our quality passing game and it was outstanding to watch.”

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez felt Alonso's red card was crucial as it gave Arsenal the chance to attack.

"We didn’t play as we want in the first half, we made a mistake and we were losing 1-0," Benitez said.

"In the second half we get back into the game, we take control, we were creating more chances going forward and we thought we could win.

“But after the sending-off, we have one holding midfielder: Gerrard."

But Benitez refused to blame his captain for the late error.

“It was a difficult situation for him. He was watching some players and it was difficult," Benitez added.

“He knows he’s made a mistake but he has scored 18 goals and you need to put that in the balance."