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Honours even for Arsenal and Liverpool
2011-04-18 01:30:53
Arsenal's title hopes were left hanging by a thread after they conceded a late penalty in an extraordinary finish against Liverpool at the Emirates.
The Gunners thought they had earned a vital win when Robin van Persie slotted in a 98th minute penalty after Jay Spearing brought down Cesc Fabregas.
But four minutes later Emmanuel Eboue fouled Lucas Leiva to allow Dirk Kuyt to grab a Reds equaliser from the spot.
The Gunners are now six points behind Manchester United with six games left.
Kuyt converted his penalty in the 102nd minute, with the extended amount of added time being down to an injury to Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher during the second half.
And the dramatic equaliser from the Reds is a bodyblow to an Arsenal side who briefly thought they had revived their chances of catching Premier League leaders Manchester United.
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//Carroll's impact was not going to be in defence though, as he had the task of testing how the Gunners back-line would deal with the kind of physical threat the home side have previously struggled against.
And, after Arsenal centre-back Johan Djourou escaped giving away a penalty for a foul on Spearing, Carroll got his head to a number of balls, only to fail to test Gunners keeper Wojciech Szczesny.
His aerial prowess did serve as a warning for the home side, especially considering the England international had already scored at the Emirates this season with a header from a diagonal free-kick when his former club Newcastle won 1-0.
To Arsenal's credit they managed to limit his threat but, despite dominating possession, they failed to find a way through a Liverpool rearguard which had seen 17-year-old Jack Robinson replace the injured Fabio Aurelio after 21 minutes.
Robinson became Liverpool's youngest ever player when he came on against Hull City in the final game of 2009-10 season aged 16 years and 250 days and he joined 18-year-old John Flanagan in the Reds defence.
For all of Arsenal's passing and probing they almost went ahead from set piece, when a Van Persie corner was headed against the crossbar by Laurent Koscielny.
Wenger's side had a shout for a penalty when Theo Walcott was quickest to the loose ball and claimed his follow-up shot struck the arm of Kuyt, although referee Andre Marriner disagreed.
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