ARSENAL SECURE WIN AS THREE SEE RED
The match saw three players sent off and was marred by a number of questionable decisions by referee Graham Poll, the first of which came after just seven minutes.
As summer signing Lauren (pictured) slid in for a challenge with Sander Westerveld in the Liverpool goal he seemed to put the ball behind for a goal kick, but referee Poll, in conjunction with his linesman, ruled that the keeper had got the last touch and gave the corner.
As the corner floated across Westerveld could only parry the ball and as it fell to Lauren, the Cameroon international fired it back past the Liverpool keeper to give the home side the lead. However Tony Adams may also claim the opening goal after the ball deflected off the England defender's shin.
Liverpool's woes were then added to when, on 37 minutes, Gary McAllister was sent from the field for a miss-timed challenge on Patrick Vieira, after the Arsenal players launched a wave of protest to the referee.
That sent Arsenal into the break with a considerable advantage, which, in footballing terms they had earned, after dominating the play for the first 45 minutes, with Lauren consistently looking threatening and Thierry Henry finding the kind of form that won him so much praise during Euro 2000.
The second half saw two more players sent off, with Arsenal losing Patrick Vieira and Liverpool losing Dietmar Hamann, both for second bookable offences. Vieira was the main talking point after he received his marching orders for the second time in two weeks, and is now facing a five match ban.
The Frenchman's first booking came after an incident with Jamie Carragher in which Vieira took exception to the Liverpool player's challenge and Graham Poll had to step in to break the pair up, showing both players the yellow card.
Then, after a further scuffle with Carragher, Vieira launched a two-footed challenge on Dietmar Hamann and, although he appeared to have won the ball, he was shown the second yellow card and sent from the field, leaving the teams level at ten men each.
However, Liverpool were then one-man down again just five minutes later when Hamann was shown the second yellow card for tugging on the shirt of Robert Pires as the Frenchman looked to push forward.
Arsenal took advantage of their superior numbers and passed the ball around well, and the 75th minute substitution of Kanu for Dennis Bergkamp proved to be inspirational as the Nigerian international encouraged The Gunners to press forward
Henry then rounded off a miserable night for Gerard Houllier's team when he scored in the 89th minute. Having seen his first shot saved well from a breakaway attack, Henry kept his cool to launch another strike past the stranded Westerveld.
Further pressure from Arsenal then ran down the clock and the match was brought to an end shortly afterwards giving Arsenal their first win of the season, but leaving a bad taste in the mouths of both managers.
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