Liverpool v Arsenal: full time report
Liverpool 1 Arsenal 1
An own goal by Pepe Reina in injury time cancelled out David Ngog's second half strike and denied Liverpool their first three points of the season, despite having Joe Cole sent off just before half time.
Cole was shown a straight red card seconds before half time, when he recklessly slid in on Arsenal's summer signing Laurent Koscielny. It brought a premature end to Cole's Premier League debut with his new club, and he will now serve a three-match suspension.
Against the odds, Ngog put the home side into the lead after the break, and looked to have sealed Liverpool all three points, until Reina's howler secured the Gunners a draw.
An entertaining first half saw Arsenal dominate possession of the ball for large spells – although shots were few and far between.
It was the home team who went closest to breaking the deadlock, though. A typical left-footed effort from Glen Johnson on the edge of the penalty area forced Almunia into a decent save. And from the resulting corner, Ngog's goalbound header was cleared off the line by Gael Clichy, as the Reds were unfortunate not to go into the break 1-0 ahead.
But then came the moment which threatened to have a key bearing on the final result. Cole's mistimed challenge earned him his marching orders, and Roy Hodgson was forced to reconsider his half time team-talk.
Whatever the former Fulham boss said clearly had the desired effect.
Less than a minute after the break, Liverpool broke the deadlock through Ngog. Sloppy play from Arsenal on the edge of their own penalty gifted Javier Mascherano the ball, and the wantaway Argentina international fed the ball through to the young Frenchman, who slammed the ball past Almunia from a tight angle.
Questions will be asked over the Arsenal goalkeeper, who would have been disappointed to have been beaten at his near post. The Spaniard was then nearly at fault for a second Liverpool goal minutes later when he failed to deal with another cross; but he was handed another let off when Martin Skrtel failed to direct his header on target.
Ngog then had a chance to double the Reds' advantage 10 minutes later when Steven Gerrard's whipped in free-kick found the 21-year-old inside the six-yard box, but he misguided his headed effort.
With the one goal advantage, Liverpool were defending in numbers, and Arsenal were struggling to find a way to breach their resolute opponents despite their man advantage.
The equaliser nearly came when Vermaelen headed goalwards midway through the second half. On this occasion, though, the defender failed to test Reina.
It was substitute Theo Walcott who then managed to concern the Liverpool goalkeeper moments later. The Arsenal winger's well struck free-kick was parried for a corner by the Spain number one.
As the minutes ticked down, all the pressure was coming from Arsenal. With five minutes left on the clock, Tomas Rosicky had a glorious chance to haul the Gunners level as he slalomed through on goal, but his shot was expertly tipped over by Reina.
It was then in injury time when the Liverpool keeper endured his own horror moment – turning from hero to villain because of one mistake.
With the sun in his eyes, Reina failed to deal with a Rosicky cross, which allowed Marouane Chamakh to bundle the ball into the post. The Liverpool goalkeeper attempted to gather the rebound, but mishandled the ball as it fell into the back of his own net.
Gerrard attempted to rescue all three points with a late free-kick, but Almunia was equal to the strike. And a second red card of the match, handed to the impressive Koscielny, didn't have any bearing on the final result, as the two sides shared the spoils.
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