Late goal salvages a point after mediocre performance.

A largely subdued opening game of the season saw a well organised Liverpool side comfortably repel our attacks despite playing most of the game with only ten men.

Joe Cole's dismissal came at the end of the first half after he made an unnecessary lunge at Laurent Koscielny while he was attempting to clear the ball up the line. It was a stupid challenge and Koscielny was lucky to be able to take to the field for the second half although he too saw red in the closing minutes following two harsh bookings.

Our new central defender had an eventful game but gave an assured display. He was stronger in the challenge than his slight frame suggests and won both of his one-on-one duels with Fernando Torres. 

Wenger's other purchase this summer had a less impressive match, struggling to hold the ball up and unable to stretch the opposition's defence. However, Marouane Chamakh's ability to get on the end of crosses paid dividends in the final minute as he stole in front of Reina and forced the keeper into palming the ball into his own net. A crucial contribution and he showed enough glimpses of quality to suggest he will have a big role to play this season.

It was a scrappy equaliser but it was a game of few chances and David Ngog's opener meant that Liverpool could justify shutting up shop, especially as they only had ten men. It was a sloppy goal to concede as Jack Wilshere lost possession just outside his own area and Ngog quickly found himself with only the keeper to beat. It was from a tight angle though and Manuel Almunia should have been able to stop the ball flying past him at the near post. Almunia was all over the place at crosses too and we were lucky not to concede on a couple of occassions so a new goalkeeper is still very much on the agenda.

We dominated the first half but struggled to create any chances, yet despite having a one man advantage, we struggled to even keep the ball in the second half. It was an irritating development and the general lack of urgency meant that we only created one real chance. It was a brilliant piece of play too as Tomas Rosicky played a one-two on the edge of the area and jinked past a challenge before firing a shot towards the top corner which Reina did brilliantly well to tip over the bar.

Thankfully Chamakh's pressure forced a last minute goal and despite all of the negatives, a point from Anfield, without Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie (bar the last ten minutes) and Alexandre Song, is a good start.

Photo: Action Images

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