Arsenal are five points clear at the top of the Premiership table despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Liverpool at Highbury this afternoon. The result means a continuation of Liverpool's worst run in 50 years and means they remain nine points adrift of Arsenal at the summit.
It could have been far worse for Liverpool after they spent almost the entire first half under a barrage of pressure from Arsenal. The Reds had registered the first shot on goal – struck straight at David Seaman by John Arne Riise – but afterwards it was all the Gunners as they continued to pin Liverpool back.
The home side almost broke down a doggedly resilient Liverpool rearguard on the half hour mark when Syvlain Wiltord was played through by Gilberto. Reds goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was alert to the danger, however, and was swiftly off his line to block the Frenchman's shot. Kirkland was also the saviour a minute later when he held on to a thumping Sol Campbell header from a Robert Pires corner.
Liverpool's task became even more difficult after 33 minutes when Michael Owen went off with a suspected hamstring injury to be replaced by El Hadji Diouf. Arsenal then continued to overpower the Liverpool midfield and keep the pressure on but the Liverpool defence – as well as the excellent Kirkland – continued to thwart the champions.
The second half was a totally different affair with Liverpool coming into the match and matching Arsenal in the attacking stakes. After Wiltord hit the side netting from an acute angle, Houllier's under-fire Reds hit back and should have taken the lead but Diouf's weak header was cleared off the line by Ashley Cole.
Milan Baros was continuing to cause Arsenal problems and when he was played behind Sol Campbell with a fabulous pass by the increasingly influential Steven Gerrard, Campbell took the Czech striker down and left referee Jeff Winter with no option but to award a penalty.
With Michael Owen now sitting on the bench, Danny Murphy assumed responsibility and fired the spot-kick into the top right hand corner to give Liverpool a valuable lead. Nine minutes later and Arsenal were handed a lifeline by Winter when he adjudged Riise to have pulled back substitute Francis Jeffers in the box. Henry made no mistake with the resulting penalty.
Both sides had chances to win it, with Murphy and Gilberto going particularly close, but 1-1 it remained at the final whistle.
Filed by Tom Grealis
