The English FA Cup is still Arsenal's to have but is no longer Liverpool's to hold. An astutely-conceived goal, briskly executed by Dennis Bergkamp just before the half-hour, yesterday reversed the outcome of last season's final in a fourth-round tie which should have dispelled any doubts about the Cup's enduring ability to arouse passion and controversy.
For more than an hour, as curtains of drizzle swept across Highbury, the teams produced a contest of markedly higher quality and interest than the lumbering 1-1 draw they had shared here in the Premier League a fortnight earlier. Then the match came close to descending into bathos as three players, two from Arsenal and one from Liverpool, were sent off in less than four minutes.
A month earlier the referee, Mike Riley, had ended up dismissing two from Bolton and one from Leicester at the Reebok stadium but that was humdrum stuff compared to yesterday's three-card trick, which began after 67 minutes with Martin Keown's dismissal for a professional foul on Michael Owen.
In the 70th minute Bergkamp, his temper already rising at the loss of a man, was further angered when Arsenal's appeal for handball against Sami Hyypia was rejected and immediately went over the top on Jamie Carragher. As Riley ordered the Dutchman off a coin thrown from the crowd struck Carragher who hurled it back and was himself dismissed for violent conduct.
None of the sendings-off should have brooked much argument beyond the usual protests from the culprits. Keown had been the last defender when he pulled back Owen before the striker could break clear on to Jari Litmanen's pass, and Bergkamp's foul was inexcusable.
Carragher's reaction may have been instinctive but as Phil Thompson, Liverpool's caretaker-manager, pointed out, this is something players cannot do, whatever the provocation.
For the last 20 minutes, then, the drama was heightened as Liverpool's 10 men strove to save the tie against Arsenal's nine, but came no closer to forcing a replay than the moment in stoppage time when Sol Campbell cleared the ball off the line after Richard Wright had half-stopped a cross-shot from Owen.
Owen's failure to accept this and several other chances was the principal difference between yesterday's match and the 2001 final when the England striker had scored twice in the last seven minutes to overturn Arsenal's 1-0 lead.
Again Liverpool came back strongly in the second half after Arsenal had dominated much of the first but without maintaining the consistent pressure near goal which might once more have brought them salvation.
Arsenal have received 10 red cards this season and the total of sendings-off during Arsène Wenger's five-and-a-half years as manager now stands at 42. Yet apart from those four minutes yesterday when the match led the life of Riley, neither side had given much indication of wanting warmer showers than those nature provided.
Until Arsenal were put under siege the game was more notable for the entertainment which sprang from the determination of both sides to avoid a replay. On a slippery surface the superior control of Henry and Bergkamp made Arsenal more likely winners once they had scored.
This, moreover, was in spite of losing the craft and cunning of Robert Pires, forced off after 19 minutes following a knee in the back from Hyypia.
Ray Parlour came off the bench to join Patrick Vieira in central midfield while Giovanni van Bronckhorst moved out to the left.
If anything the enforced change posed greater problems for Liverpool because the combination of Parlour and Vieira was better able to stop Dietmar Hamann and Steven Gerrard taking hold of the play between the penalty areas. In addition Henry and Van Bronckhorst swiftly struck up an understanding on the left which prompted Arsenal's goal after 28 minutes.
Carragher was outpaced and outflanked as Henry moved on to Van Bronckhorst's return pass and did not need to pause as he regained possession before crossing for Bergkamp to beat Jerzy Dudek with a glancing header.
How different for Liverpool it might have been had Owen found his finishing touch. In the 12th minute Nicolas Anelka backheeled an oblique pass from Hamann through the Arsenal defence to leave Owen with only Wright to beat. Wright's save was exceptional, but by Owen's standards this still was a bad miss.
Anelka stayed off for the second half with a sore collarbone, yet the introduction of Litmanen gave Liverpool a better chance to link up their attack.
In the end, however, Liverpool were no more successful in exploiting the advantage of an extra man than they had been at Anfield just before Christmas, when Arsenal won 2-1 after having Van Bronckhorst sent off.
"Our mental strength carried us through," said Wenger. That and his team's long experience of knowing what is on the cards.
Carragher last night issued a public apology for letting "the club, the fans, my team-mates and myself down" when he threw the coin back into the crowd.
Arsenal have appealed for help in identifying the person responsible and will ban them for life when they have done so.
ARSENAL: Wright, Luzhny, Keown, Campbell, Cole, Pires (Parlour 20), Vieira, van Bronckhorst (Grimandi 84), Wiltord (Upson 68), Bergkamp, Henry. Subs Not Used: Dixon, Stack. Sent Off: Keown (67), Bergkamp (71). Booked: Cole. Goal: Bergkamp 28.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Riise, Hyypia, Henchoz, Wright (Murphy 80), Carragher, Hamann, Gerrard, Heskey, Anelka (Litmanen 45), Owen. Subs Not Used: Berger, Arphexad, McAllister. Sent Off: Carragher (72). Booked: Heskey, Wright, Gerrard, Henchoz.
Referee: M Riley (Leeds).
