Spare a thought for Stoke. While they were busy blitzing Bolton to reach the FA Cup Final, the majority of football fans, pundits and certainly Fantasy Managers, were watching the pretty patterns being weaved by Arsenal against Liverpool at the Emirates. Like expectant fathers pacing the hospital corridors, the Fantasy fraternity fidgeted, anticipating a major delivery; a bundle of joy.
Robin Van Persie’s stroked spot-kick belatedly delivered the goods but Dirk Kuyt’s own reply then swiftly followed like an evil twin, a twisted lovechild of Kenny Dalglish and Alex Ferguson that left Arsene Wenger a deflated, embittered figure on the Emirates touchline.
The dramatic delivery came so late, arriving eight minutes into a period of injury time caused by a second-half clash of heads that robbed Liverpool of their defensive stalwart Jamie Carragher. Even without his influence and with two fledgling full-backs, the visitors looked comfortable right up until the point where Jay Spearing sent Cesc Fabregas tumbling inside the area, handing the Gunners a chance to take the advantage.
The Liverpool midfield, brilliantly set-up by Dalglish and marshaled by the impressive Spearing and the ever-surprising Lucas, stalked the Arsenal creators and strangled penetration in the final third. Those creators were little more than ordinary on the day – Fabregas produced just a handful of telling passes, his most vital contribution coming courtesy of Spearing’s flailing leg in the Liverpool box. Samir Nasri continued to twinkle without any real potency and Theo Walcott produced an anonymous display, hushed by a determined showing from Liverpool’s young Jack Robinson. Robin Van Persie, meanwhile, sporting many a Fantasy Premier League armband, relied on an icy 12-yard finish to reward the faith thrown his way after a tepid performance.
The frustration built in the Emirates stands, somewhere amongst them Ferguson grinned at every full-blooded Liverpool tackle, every stray Arsenal pass. When Andre Marriner handed Liverpool a penalty, allowing Dirk Kuyt to level with the final kick of the game, Ferguson’s joy would have surely required every ounce of restraint.
Most of us won’t be sharing his celebratory mood. Arsenal’s multi-national chins will surely be on the floor ahead of Wednesday’s short trip to White Hart Lane. Ferguson will be watching on again – hoping for another bout of blanks and self-destruction. Us Fantasy Managers meanwhile, clutching two or three Arsenal players like bedraggled cuddly toys in the double gameweek, are left hoping for a miracle birth.
