Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

On the whole, it hasn't been easy writing match reports these past couple of years. Granted, letting off some steam by way of a rant on this website can sometimes provide some therapeutic comfort, but more often than not it only adds to the depression.

There have been many occasions over the last two years when I've wondered why I bother. Crap sales, having to stand in the pissing down rain having people ask "is that the official programme", watching crap football and getting abuse from fellow reds on other websites… it takes it's toll and it's fair to say I have occasionally questioned whether I should pack it all in and get 'a real job.'

But then a game like this comes along and suddenly everything makes sense again.

I've waited a little while before starting this report, as had I written it after getting home after the game it would have just been gibberish, such was the emotional high I was on.

It's weird, but I think the last time I felt so exhilarated after a game was the second Newcastle 4-3. Cardiff was fantastic of course, so too Dortmund, and yet for me this felt even better in some ways.
It was a game I didn't see us getting anything from, although my spirits were raised somewhat after seeing the team Rafa had selected.

But the league table prior to this game made for pretty depressing reading, and would have looked a whole lot worse if we hadn't turned Arsenal over.

Beating the champions, a team who had only lost once in 50 odd matches prior to this game (and they only lost that because of a bent ref), and doing it with so many of our attacking players on the sidelines, was quite a feat.

To do it in the manner we did, with the type of performance we produced, with a last gasp winner from a lad who I have watched come through the Academy and who I have regularly had to defend against from what I see as unjust criticism…. it was just fairytale stuff and I was in dreamland afterwards. I still am.

Benitez got his tactics and team selection absolutely perfect. Much has been made of the decision to push Gerrard forward to play behind Mellor. No question that proved to be a key factor in us controlling the game the way we did. But that wasn't the only tactical masterstroke employed by Rafa.

Florent Sinama-Pongolle may not have had the most productive of games in an attacking sense, but whilst he was on the field Ashley Cole was unable to bomb forward the way he usually does to such great effect. Flo worked his socks off in a role which I think he may be best suited to in the future.

As a striker, often he doesn't look much of a threat. As a wideman however, he may be able to utilise his assets a little more. Flo is quick and he's tricky, as he showed with an amazing piece of skill at the Kop end to leave Lauren and Fabregas chasing shadows. He also has a good work ethic and it may yet be possible to convert him into a winger.

The selection of Hamann was the only thing I disagreed with in the starting eleven. I would have played Biscan as Didi has not been playing well of late. However, my fears were unfounded as the influential German was back to his very best as he stifled Arsenal's free flowing attacking midfield. He was absolutely immense.

Vieira made Didi look like a slow old man last season at Highbury. That day Arsenal appeared to target Didi and swarmed all over him whenever he received possession. It was perhaps the worst performance I've seen from him. Yesterday was possibly the best.

In the first half, Hamann was all over Vieira like a rash. Time and again he forced the French maestro into mistakes, and the German was as responsible as anyone for the fact that Chris Kirkland was a virtual spectator in the opening 45 minutes.

The midfield trio of Didi, Alonso and Stevie G dominated Arsenal in a way that no English side had been able to do for 50+ matches previously. Xabi oozed class, and dictated the play from deep which allowed Gerrard to go rampaging.

The captain had been very poor in Monaco in midweek, but was much more like his old self against the champions. He should have been awarded a first half penalty when a clever flick from Mellor sent him charging into the penalty area where he was felled by Lauren's carelessly outstretched leg.

Gerrard may or may not have gone down a bit too easily, but Lauren's boot caught him square on the right knee and that was a penalty. Not for the first time this season, we did not get what we should have from a referee.

Thankfully it would not prove costly in the end, but if these things do even themselves up over a season, then we can look forward to a lot of dodgy penalties and offside goals coming our way in the months ahead.

Mellor was the victim of another poor offside decision when he timed his run to perfection and saw his crisply struck left foot shot tipped onto the bar by Lehmann. The linesman's flag was about five seconds too late, and had Mellor scored we'd have had every right to be furious.

Kewell then brought a routine stop from Lehmamn after he'd done well to win a header at the back post, and the Aussie enjoyed a good opening half. He struggled badly in the second half however, as his form took an alarming nosedive. However, his work rate was beyond reproach, and as long as he puts the effort in he'll get no stick from me.

Liverpool's display in the opening half was the best I've seen in a long, long time. I've said that a few times this season I know (Monaco and Deportivo to name two), but this topped the lot.

Arsenal are the best team in the land, and they were at full strength (Bergkamp aside). Defensively they always give you a chance, but they're normally so good going forward that it doesn't matter.

But for 45 minutes they couldn't get anywhere near our goal. Riise stuck close to Ljungberg and nullified that threat, but as we all know it's on the opposite side where the Gunners are so devastating. Henry spends most of his time out there, linking with Pires and Cole and in the past they've wreaked havoc against us down that flank.

But Liverpool's performance in this game can be typified by one incident in the first half when Henry set off on one of his trademark runs down the left, cutting into the box and running at Finnan. As the Kop held their breath fearing the worst, Finnan kept his eye on the ball and dispossessed Henry with an ease that must have shocked everybody present.

Finnan was tremendous throughout, both in his defending and his use of the ball. I've said recently that the Irish full back has really won me over recently, but today he turned in his best Liverpool display yet.

I'd have sold Finnan last summer without a second thought. Now I wouldn't even consider it. He's proved me wrong, and I'm more than happy to admit it. I just hope some of Mellor's critics can do the same.

It was Finnan who began the move which saw Alonso open the scoring. The Irishman's sweeping crossfield ball found Kewell, who nodded the ball first time into the path of Gerrard. As the skipper surged towards the box, Mellor made a great run across him and dragged Campbell with him, which left a huge gap in the centre which Alonso spotted and moved into.

Gerrard disguised the pass beautifully and the weight on it was so perfect that Xabi didn't even have to break stride as he sidefooted the ball into the top corner. It was a goal brimming in quality, a goal worthy of Arsenal themselves in fact.

The half time interval came at the right time for Arsenal. They were being outfought, outthought and outplayed in every area of the field. Wenger must have been mightily relieved to get them in the dressing room, but it made little difference as Liverpool began the second period in the same way they'd ended the first.

But then out of nothing, Arsenal showed just why they are perhaps the most devastating attacking force ever assembled in English football. Their equalising goal was a thing of beauty, and you can't help but admire football like that.

Vieira would later show himself up for the wrong reasons, but his goal was majestic. The pass from Pires was as good as anything you'll see anywhere, as had it been a fraction softer Carra would have intercepted it, and had it been a fraction harder Kirkland would have smothered it.

I'd go as far as to say that this was a goal that was so good, that there was literally nothing we could do about it. As the reds lined up for the restart, I couldn't help but think back to this fixture last season. For an hour we had been excellent, but then Arsenal scored and just took over the game.

Was history about to repeat itself? It seemed so, as for the next ten minutes they began to threaten and get Henry on the ball. It looked as though our heads had gone down, but it didn't take long to regroup and it's to the great credit of our boys that they could come back from that.

Vieira disgraced himself first with a nasty late challenge on Xabi, and then with a comical dive which should have resulted in a second yellow card.

Alonso shot over after being teed up by Mellor, and Gerrard forced Lehmann into a fine save after latching onto a loose ball when substitute Nunez had caused confusion on the edge of the area.

God only knows what Nunez must have made of this. To come off the bench into a game of this pace must have been some culture shock to him. He didn't disgrace himself, and he'll have learnt a lot from this.

Before the game if you'd offered me a draw I'd have snatched your hand off. But when it looked as though that's what we'd get, I was more than a little disappointed as we were much superior to Arsenal on the day. A draw would have been a great result for them given how the game had gone.

But fate was to take a hand in proceedings, and deep into stoppage time came the moment which will live long in the memories of all who witnessed it.

Kirkland lumped the ball forward, Mellor ensured Vieira didn't get a free header and then Kewell bravely (yes, I did just use the words 'Kewell' and 'bravely' together) went up for the ball with Campbell and Toure, ensuring they couldn't get any purchase on their clearance.

But when the ball dropped to Mellor 25 yards out, few will have expected what was to follow, as the striker produced the cleanest of hits to send the ball hurtling past Lehmann and into the bottom corner at the Kop end, to spark manic celebrations all over the ground.

It would have been an amazing moment no matter who had scored, but for me it was extra special because it was the Boy Mellor. You all know how much I think of him. Not only do I rate him as a player, but I've got a lot of time for him as a person too.

He was good enough to do an interview with TLW back in May 2003, and since then I've kept in regular contact with him and I know how much playing for Liverpool means to him.

He had a bad time at West Ham, and some had written him off because of that. I'm sure you've heard it said, you may even have said it yourself: "If he's not good enough for West Ham he can't be good enough for Liverpool." Life is not that black and white I'm afraid.

There are many reasons why Mellor didn't make the impact he would have wanted at West Ham. I'm not going into them all now, as there's no need. He proved against Arsenal that he is indeed a Premiership player. More than that, he proved he is a Liverpool player.

What happened at West Ham, as I've tried to stress for a long time, is totally irrelevant. Judge Neil Mellor on what he has done for Liverpool. So far he's done pretty damn well at every level he's played, including the first team.

Even had he not scored THAT goal, I'd still be saying how well he played against the Gunners. Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure certainly knew they'd been in a game that's for sure.

Mellor, as he always does, fought for every ball. He chased everything gamely, and made sure he closed down defenders and never allowed them to settle on the ball.

More than that though, he provided his team with a focal point for their attacks. He held the ball up, he brought others into the game and his intelligent running opened up plenty of holes in the Gunners defence. Most notably for Alonso's wonderful opening goal.

By the time he won the game for us with that wonder strike, the lad could barely stand up, he'd put so much into his performance. As his skipper said afterwards, Mellor deserved that moment of glory due to the incredible amount of work he got through.

Mellor is a goalscorer, and a matchwinner. If he's having a quiet game, you leave him on anyway because he's always likely to get on the end of something. Boro kept him quiet for 80 minutes, Arsenal managed to do it for 91. But take your eye off him for a second and look what happens.

I have to laugh when I read comments like "apart from his goal he did nothing" or "for 80 minutes he looked out of his depth." He's a goalscorer, he's there to score goals, and that's what he does. What more do people want?

John Aldridge says Mellor reminds him of himself. I agree, there are many similarities between the two, except Mellor is more of a threat from distance than Aldo was. Ian Rush can't speak highly enough of Mellor's finishing ability, Carra has spoken out about how deadly he is and Stevie G calls him a 'goal machine.'

In my mind there was never any doubt about whether he would score goals if given a run of games. I've always said he'd score goals, but whether his all round game would be up to it was another matter.

He proved against Arsenal that it is. Yes, he was a bit sloppy on a couple of occasions in the first half, but that was more down to nerves than anything else.

This was a massive game for him. He was a lone striker, making only his second Premiership start, in a televised game against the champions and he was being marked by Sol Campbell. Pretty daunting for a 22 year old rookie.

Yet the longer it went on, the more at home he looked. The goal should do wonders for his confidence, and for the team's.

There were so many outstanding performers that picking a star man was almost impossible. Finnan was superb as I said, Carra was flawless once more as was his partner Hyypia.

The midfield three bossed the game, aside from a 15 minute spell in the middle of the second half, but I'm giving it to Mellor as in the end, it was his piece of brilliance which won the game and it was his day. No-one can begrudge him that.

Quick word on the atmosphere. Brilliant. It was an absolute pleasure to be there on the day that Mellor came of age as a first team player. No matter what happens in the rest of his career, he'll always have this moment, and so will we.

Team: Kirkland; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise; Sinama-Pongolle (Nunez), Hamann, Gerrard, Alonso, Kewell; Mellor:

Agree or disagree? Email me at dave@liverpoolway.co.uk

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