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Arshavin buries four goals at Anfield as Liverpool’s title hopes take a hit

AndreiArshavin (Reuters)   

Andrei Arshavin put a serious dent in Liverpool's title hopes and did so in amazing fashion.

The Russian star scored four, yes four, goals to help Liverpool earn a 4-4 tie vs. Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday. Liverpool avoided defeat courtesy of a Yossi Benayoun equalizer in stoppage time, but the result still felt like a defeat to a Reds squad that is now even atop the EPL standings with Manchester United (but with United holding two games in hand).

In case you missed the eight-goal thriller, here are the highlights (at least until they get pulled down, at which point we'll look elsewhere):

What did you think of the Arsenal/Liverpool match? Did you become an Arshavin fan? Think Liverpool's title hopes are dead?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. A wonderful performance by Arshavin (obviously), which makes me wonder even more why he didn’t start the FA Cup semi.

    For those of you just watching the highlights, Fabianski actually had a very strong first half, and was perhaps their third best player. (Arshavin, Song, Fabianski)

    Arsenal’s overall play was a disaster, with Fabregas having the worst game I’ve ever seen. Horrible.

    As for Liverpool, they are done. But that Torres is simply great. Pure class, and a treat to watch.

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  2. As much as I liked goals 2 and 4, I liked the play-by-play guy better. That was friggin’ great. But like everyone else said, goal number two sure was a thing of beauty.
    Can we figure out a way to draft that play-by-play guy for ESPN’s games? I don’t understand the language, but I’d rather listen to him any day.

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  3. Terrible clearances and defense from both sides, but nice goals from Arshavin (and Liverpool too).

    I still hate both of these teams.

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  4. Can anyone tell me the last time someone had 4 goals in an EPL match? I’m not asking as a trivia question, because I don’t know. Just curious. Seems like Ruud VN scored 4 for Man Utd once, but my memory is fuzzy going back a few years.

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  5. Hey Tolik, I liked what you wrote. Аршавин просто гэнгста.

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  6. As everybody else has noted, Arshavin’s 2nd and 4th goals were terrific. He’s really turned into a great acquisition for Arsenal, and they’ll be in better shape next year for both the league and CL with him on the team. I’d love to see both Arsenal and Liverpool mount a serious title challenge next year.

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  7. Fabianski was not awful. He was the only other quality player for Arsenal. Yes he allowed 4 goals, but with that brutal defense any goalkeeper would have. Arsenal’s defensive performance just may be the worst I’ve ever seen of them, for as long as I’ve been watching them. Fabianski prevented it from getting way out of control early with a ridiculous amount of saves.

    The only people saying Fabianski sucked probably didn’t watch the full game and just took a look at the scoresheet and some highlights.

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  8. Liverpool’s title hopes died earlier in the season with draws against Stoke FC and some lesser teams. 11 draws does not a champion make. This game was just another example as to why Liverpool will not win the title for a 19th straight time. (this coming from a Liverpool fan whom is sick of Rafa and his ways in the Prem)

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  9. People commented a while ago about how great the goal was by grafite. Two of these goals were better than that… skill wise. Pinpoint shots on the run. This kid is good. I would agree that there was shoddy defending in both cases but the skill to shoot like that is awesome. If you think about it…How many goals do you see where there isnt shoddy defending.

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  10. Also, does anyone else notice that Liverpool/Arsenal fans seem to be a little more respectful to each other for no apparent reason? I mean when they play its always an entertaining draw these days…but for example, I am a gooner born and bred, I HATE united, chelsea, spurs, and villa, but for some reason I just don’t seem to hold the same feelings for the Pool…Gerrard is an outstanding captain and leader and you just can’t hate him, especially if you have English blood. Any time Arsenal is out of a competition and Liverpool is left, I root for them. I’ve seen a lot of people online on both sides who say the same thing, we just don’t seem to hate each other. I think its because the team seems to have good character- no whiners, divers, etc, just real hard-working world class players….The mancs and chavs can eat it but the Reds are ok with me.

    Just a thought for you to chew on…

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  11. every seems to have jumped on a band wagon that hasd been going for ages arshavin has been a class player for years its just sad that none of the prem could be botherd to grab him and now arsenal hav its arshavin this arshavin that wow he scored 4 goals go him …..think about alan shearer he scored a 3 goals on his first games for southampton ….then 3 goals on his second start for blackburn and has scored loads of goals for newcastle ….henry …cole …yorke the list is long of amazing players arshavin is just another drop in a very big pond

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  12. wooooohooooo way to go Andrei! One of the best instant-impact players I can remember. I am so glad that the transfer went through and he was worth every penny.

    Screw your arguments about the team, I’m sick of the Arsenal “blogosphere” being so damn negative and argumentative. I’ll celebrate four goals at Anfield any time. And a draw is acceptable for me today, we’re now 8 points clear- we’d have to lose three and villa win three to finish 5th. This season is lost but we have recovered from injuries and some bad losses and really matured and improved as a unit- look at Song as an example, I think he has eclipsed Denilson. You can bet we’ll be real title contenders next year in all competitions. Just need a center back and it’s complete!

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  13. Poor head clearances, wild ball rebounds, leaving attackers open: as J-Bag said above “If those had happened in an MLS game, Eurosnobs would be using them as illustrations of the league’s inadequacy.”

    Of course, the quality of finishing was superb. Arshavin молодец!

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  14. His second and fourth goals were amazing. That is the Arshavin everyone saw last summer in the Euros. He is an amazing player.

    If Arsenal can retain the core of their squad, although Adebayor is rumored to be jetting off, they will be legit contenders next year. They are a very young squad, although their goalie sucks.

    Almost all of the goals came off horrible defensive play. But there is still no excuse unless it’s an own goal. The player still needs to put the ball past the keeper.

    If anything, this game is more about Liverpool’s terrible defense than Arsenal’s. I’m a neutral, not a supporter of either side, but Liverpool has given up EIGHT goals in TWO games.

    P.S. why does Arshavin have permanent make-up on? He looks like a little Russian doll.

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  15. Credit to Arshavin, but all of his goals came off of the four worst defensive blunders of the season for Liverpool, the game should have been killed off in the first 30 minutes when Liverpool utterly dominated the match and Arsenal provided little to nothing going forward. The Mascherano give away and subsequent goal changed things.

    Frankly, it was in Arsenal’s interest to lose this game, as it would have kept the pressure on Man United in the league in the lead up to their CL tie…

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  16. Great goals, but terrible giveaways by the defenders. If those had happened in an MLS game, Eurosnobs would be using them as illustrations of the league’s inadequacy.

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  17. People at the stadium were obviously making far too much noise for his taste. Every time he scored, he used the opportunity to ask everyone to please quiet down a bit.

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  18. This game needs to be turned into a DVD called “How to finish/how to put the ball on net.”

    Two of the Liverpool goals some might call lucky. But they weren’t. Of course they were both Benayoun goals (in my opinion) but the guy got two difficult balls and put them on goal, and both went in. The other 6 goals were nothing short of clinical. Un-effing-real.

    I kind of hate both of these teams. But Arshavin had the best four goals on the night. But really, ever goal–well done.

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  19. Arsenal looked terrible all game, and if it wasn’t for Arshavin, Liverpool would have won easily.

    But that makes the way Arshavin did even more impressive. With a team crumbling around him, he was able to take his chances and make the most of them. His finishing was extremely good.

    On Liverpool’s side, I thought Torres had a great game with his brace.

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  20. Liverpool made three poor defensive plays and the fourth allowed was a complete defensive lapse to only have one guy covering. Had Liverpool not continued to shoot themselves in the foot, we would have been talking about the complete domination of Arsenal instead.

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