Moving moments at the Grove: Arsenal 3 Liverpool 0

An excellent win yesterday. I thought Liverpool came out well in the first half, and caused us a few problems with their movement, but by the second half - and the important second goal - it was one of those blissful games where you could relax and enjoy the team comprehensively outplay one of the 'big four'.

And there was, for me, several genuinely moving moments in the game, which I thought I'd try and base this post around - at least one of which came from the opposing fans.

Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, the game kicked off with a minute's silence, given it was rememberance day, an act flawlessly observed by both sets of fans. Seeing 60,000 people all in silence, over an issue that actually warrants a silence is always rather moving, and it did put the importance of the game - and football - into context.

I have to admit to being worried when I saw Almunia and the Flamster in the tunnel, but both acquitted themselves: Almunia solidly, and Flamini excellently. Indeed, Flamini's presence in the midfield brought some much needed simplicity to our passing. In some respects, having three players of such technical ability as Hleb, Rosicky, and Fabregas, perhaps lends the team to over-playing a bit, and Flamini was excellent as a solid, and sometimes spectacular midfield presence, a stepping stone between Gilberto and Hleb/Fab. Perhaps there is a role in midfield for Flamini and also, perhaps, the old debate about not being able to play Pires and Ljunberg together will resurface with Hleb and Rosicky.

Flamini's gutsy goal rounded off an excellent move, sparked by Hleb's constant incisiveness and ingenuity on the ball. The passion of Flamini's celebration was great to see, and one can only hope the FA ends the farce of booking players for celebrating their goals. When you consider Carragher got off with a warning after scything down Van Persie, booking players for petty offences has to stop.

Hleb was, again, outstanding yesterday. Every time he picked up the ball he seemed to beat a player, if not two. His final ball was at times a little astray, but he caused the Liverpool defence and midfield no end of trouble. I would say he is now clearly one of most creative and dangerous players, and has been for some time. Especially when he's got Eboue behind/in front of him. It was a joy to see Eboue back, and it emphasised how much we'd missed him. I almost felt embarrassed for Gonzalez, such was Eboue's dominance, and he was superb getting forward as well.

In fact the whole back four played well. Clichy looked excellent getting forward and at the back, and Gallas's energy and general classiness kept Liverpool quiet going forward. His goal has to go down as one of the most shocking examples of marking I've seen from a top-level English team though. And it was Gallas who provided a great moment at the end, coming to the corner of the North and west stands and clapping the fans who'd stayed til the end. The, surely soon to be legendary, fist pump was brought out again, and it meant a lot to see the players give the fans some credit. I thought the atmosphere was better yesterday, despite a rather quiet first half.

But my MOTM has to be 'king' Kolo Toure who was outstanding. He never stopped running for the 90 minutes, making superb defensive challenges, and a goal that smacked of Adams in '98. Thierry also had a good, if interesting, game. Van Persie seemed to want to play in the areas Thierry has traditionally occupied on the left, so Henry took to just running about like a mad-man, contributing anywhere he could. There was one point when he sprinted back to tackle Kuyt or Crouch, and his credentials as Captain were emphasised. He does need a goal though. And finally, RvP, who also played well, showing his un-selfish side with a fine pass to Kolo for the second goal. I do worry, however, how he and Thierry can both play together in the long-run, without one of them making significant sacrifices to the type of game they want to play, such are the similarities in the positions they tend to take during attacks.

We shouldn't get too carried away. It was very much a game yesterday, as with all our home games this season, in which the first goal was crucial to the rest of the match. If Liverpool had scored it, they would have undoubtedly put 11 behind the ball. Especially because they looked poor yesterday. I don't know what Zenden is doing in their squad, and they seemed to have stocked up on rather average players - Crouch, Pennant, Bellamy, Gonazalez. They also missed Sissoko, badly, and Gerrard had a bit of a sulky game. Beating them is an excellent result, but the contentions of many that Liverpool would challenge for the title looks to have been a pipe-dream. It was 3-0 yesterday, but it should have been more, and Liverpool were also lucky to finish the game with 11 players.

But, a word of praise for some of the Liverpool fans. By even the 70th minute, it was clear that their team weren't going to take anything from the game, and many starting packing up and going home: their European cup banner had been taken down a long time before Gallas's goal. But, in the 9oth minute, when their team were 3-0 down and hopelessly out of the game, I saw the remaining couple of hundred Liverpool fans - in what was by then a very empty stand - raise their scarves and sing 'You'll never walk alone'. I was, I have to admit, rather moved by that exhibition of pride and almost irrational support for their club, and those fans that stayed and sung deserved far better than the crap their team had churned out. I also thought we could have perhaps let them sing it once without the, admittedly amusing, 'sign on, sign on...' riposte. Heh.

So a good win, and one we should build on next week against Newcastle. We have the acid test of Bolton away after that though, before we get too ahead of ourselves.