“I rarely get too angry with refs… but I thought the decision not to give a pen when Hleb was pulled down by Kuyt truly shocking… awful. I felt sorry for Bendtner, I genuinely thought he was trying to get out of the way. Still I fancy us to score there and after two cup wins last year, why can’t we do it again? 1-1 is quite hard to defend I think.”

I imagine Liverpool will probably defend their advantage rather than use the Anfield atmosphere to pressure Arsenal. The one thing that could work in the Gunners’ favour is that, even though they know they need to score, taking a chance and maybe conceding one themselves is not the end of the world. They still need to score, nothing’s changed, and if they do get the tie to 2-2, it will be the home side that could get more jittery, due to the away goal factor.

Having suffered Villarreal away a couple of seasons back, when the team played to not concede, I am not convinced such a position suits them, so I haven’t given up on the tie yet. At Ashburton, I felt that Arsenal, despite making errors, did actually do well enough creatively to give us hope. European knockout ties are different from league fixtures, so the apparent paucity of obvious chances has to be viewed in context. The usual problems of a poor final ball or lack of clinical finishing were apparent, but if the moves actually come off a couple of times next week, then there is decent hope of a semi-final place.

The tie is in Liverpool’s favour, don’t get me wrong, but it’s maybe 60 - 40 to them if only because there is every chance Arsenal will score up there. They rarely fail to find the net, even when playing badly.

Euro ties are often decided by a bit of luck and the apparent stonewall penalty that Hleb should have received (the ref, by all accounts, had a clear view of the shirt pulling) is an example of when things don’t go your way. My main hope for the second leg is a referee who won’t be swayed by the atmosphere at Anfield, which, on the big nights, as we all know can be intimidating.

Bendtner is suffering from what my mate Tel and his pals have labeled ‘orange boots syndrome’ – once you pull those on you are asking for trouble (Has Abou Diaby played well since he started wearing these aberrations?) Moving on from the subject of his footwear, would the Great Dane have been flagged offside if he’d managed to jump out of the way of the ball? I’d need to see that one on the box to make a judgment, but my gut feeling at the moment is probably.

Before the match, my thoughts on this tie were that the team that scored the first goal of the tie would be the eventual winners. I now hope that is very much the case! However, I was also fervent in my belief that the aggregate score over the two matches would be 1-0! That’s out the window, not least due to Arsenal’s lack of concentration and composure after taking the lead. They seemed a bit gung ho, trying to win the tie there and then with another goal. The price was paid and that is what you get through lack of experience. A growing pain the lessons of which I hope will benefit sooner rather than later.

With enough old heads on the field, or dare I say it, a manager who is a bit cuter tactically, the euphoria could have been quelled and the mindset re-focused in time to just play with a bit more nous and not lose possession in our own half.

Let’s hope we bag one up there next Tuesday and show how to play a game of this magnitude in the immediate aftermath of a goal. Until events at Anfield are concluded, we won’t know how to view last night’s match. But at the moment, there are grounds for optimism…