by It was in keeping with this fun, lively, shy game, a Cup tie that felt like watching a duel played with a series of unloaded pistols, that his own goal ultimately decided the day.
This was even a goal that was created with a piece of great craftsmanship at one touch as Trent Alexander-Arnold delivered a free kick of such terrible speed and accuracy, a terrible flat, a cry, something diving, that Jakub Kiwior could only nod the ball in. the net from the middle of a knot for his own players.
Related: Luis Díaz misses Arsenal penalty and halts Liverpool’s progress in the FA Cup
Luis Díaz scored the second goal in Liverpool’s 2–0 win in the dying seconds, his 30th shot of the game and eighth on target. The two teams presented an extremely convincing 90-minute argument about the value of dedicated elite finishes, and the crowd at the Emirates were instead treated to a shared display of Kai Havertz-Darwin Núñez in contrasting subdued forms.
At one extreme, Havertz: polite, intelligent, well-educated and frighteningly meek and apologetic in his thorough style. At the other end, Núñez is spinning around the place like a freewheel, smacking the ball towards the goal like he hates it. There is so much inherent physical talent in Núñez, but also so much random cause and effect. Perhaps some hyper-advanced algorithm might be able to predict the movements and choices of a completely pressured Darwin. But no human mind has yet succeeded in devising it.
Havertz, for his part, had five shots in the first half for 19 total touches. These stats are killer. But Havertz is not a killer. The shark in Jaws is not Jaws, a footballer who doesn’t have that great white ray. He has many other talents. But it’s no good asking him to stand as a pioneer, where we’re constantly reminded of what he doesn’t have.
Once again it was sad to look at this Arsenal team, a perfectly complex thing that cannot reveal the most obvious flaw in its construction, a flaw that is already pulling the strings of every other part. One win in seven, five goals scored, a team that has lost its relentless attacking patterns: it’s become a cliché to say that Arsenal need to sign a goalscorer, to the extent that it’s tempting to rub your eyes and seek deeper mysteries you are missing here. The only argument against signing a pure No. 9 is that it could disrupt the attacking patterns that exist in the middle of the season. Nicely. Enter this stuff. Just do it quickly.
This was at least a beautiful subtle and varied display of impotence attack. Arsenal failed to score from inside, failed to score from distance, failed to score from the most imaginative angles, failed to score with headers, long shots, one on one. This was a display of Total Failing To Score.
Often, Bukayo Saka would come into a tiny pocket of space as he sauntered across Liverpool’s front area like a safe scat listening to the tiniest bit of what was going on, when it might have been better to let some dynamics in and blow the bloody doors.
Havertz showed his full range of shots to shake very easily, offering it when all convictions were not bound that a man was asked to reach his hand around the U-bend without rubber gloves. On 37 minutes he swerved wide from a corner, offering a bit of a back-breaking turn of the neck, where a neck ricking headbutt was needed.
Apart from that there was a fine performance from Martin Ødegaard with some smooth passing through the middle of the field. Has any team ever looked so high, so well put together while going on a seven game one win run? Has any team of this youth looked so exhausted a season and a half in their current form? Arsenal should be better than this. Should, above all, be less obvious jaded.
Related: FA Cup at a glance: Bamford’s stunning goal helps Leeds beat Peterborough
Three other significant points emerged. First of all, this was a great occasion for the FA Cup, which is all the more important at a time when the structure of the club game is dominant. There was talk in the build up that this game was crucial to the Premier League title race. Well, maybe. But this FA Cup final was also crucial to both teams’ hopes of winning the FA Cup. The here and now also matter, as does football as a flesh and blood glory machine.
Secondly, the clear energy of this Liverpool team, which has more energy without a name, and is still in four competitions, top of the league and raggedly strong at mid-season.
Finally, of course, there was evidence of the value of real completion, for all the demands of a football system, team play, data tracking contributions in all areas. In a rare note of sympathy Liverpool came into this game without their own regular goals. People will say that Mo Salah is not having the most consistent season. On the other hand, he is the Premier League’s top goal-scorer, and is a vital razor’s edge for a team in transition.
Liverpool will continue without him while Egypt are still in the Africa Cup of Nations. Erling Haaland will have played at most one game for Manchester City in two months by the time the top flight season actually starts again. For Arsenal, the perception of missed chances comes from many different places.
