Sweet Music

Everyone knows that it takes time to come from abroad and settle into the Premiership. Robert Pires, for instance, started very modestly and became an absolute legend but the man who has replaced him already seems to have been an Arsenal player for ages. Except for one thing. Goals.

Tomas Rosicky is widely known as ‘Mozart’ for the way he orchestrates play. His pace, his movement, his awareness, his reading of the game and his passing are all superb and have quickly made him a favourite, even with Gunners fans who were convinced that Pires was irreplaceable. But he would be less than human if his lack of goals – and one glaring goal line miss in particular - hadn’t begun to prey on his mind and make him a little anxious.

Fortunately, the F.A. Cup third round tie at Anfield gave him the opportunity to allay that anxiety and to play a major part in eliminating the holders at the first hurdle. You could almost feel the tension seeping out of him as he took Hleb’s square pass and sent a first time shot curling in past the astonished Dudek. And eight minutes later, on the stroke of half time, he shimmered his way to the edge of the box and with three Liverpool players hoping for the chance to get in a challenge, calmly placed the ball low into the far corner for his second.

The inspiration of those two goals will do as much for Tomas Rosicky as a rest seems to have done for Thierry Henry, so it is appropriate that with around six minutes remaining it was the Arsenal captain who produced a piece of characteristic brilliance to put the game beyond Liverpool’s reach. The speed that took him past Jamie Carragher left the whole crowd gasping and the finish was majestic.

It was the perfect end to a memorable Gunners performance. A solid defensive display and three brilliant goals – two from a player destined to be an Arsenal great and one from the man whose presence he once said was a major factor in bringing him to Arsenal when he was much in demand elsewhere.