“In front of the Kop, last minute against one of the best sides in Europe,” Mellor said afterwards and the disbelief in his voice was understandable. This was a forward who had scored twice in 21 games on loan to West Ham United, had never struck in the Premiership and was playing only because Liverpool have filled a hospital ward with strikers.
His fizzing shot from more than 20 yards was even more unlikely because, with only a handful of seconds left, Arsenal appeared to have subdued opponents who had overrun them for 45 minutes. Mellor — nicknamed Gerd (as in Müller, geddit?) — was heading to Sheffield United for £500,000 not so long ago. Yesterday he struck one of the most memorable blows of an increasingly unpredictable Premiership season.
With Edu and Gilberto Silva injured, José Antonio Reyes suffering from fatigue and Robert Pires losing the 60-40 tackles, never mind the 50-50s, Arsenal are feeling a little sorry for themselves. “Everything goes against us,” Arsène Wenger said. “At the moment we are not too concerned with Chelsea but with us regrouping.” The last thing their tired legs needed was to meet a Liverpool team full of vigour. Missing Djibril Cissé, Milan Baros, Luis García and, effectively, Harry Kewell, whose form goes from bad to worse to awful, Rafael Benítez came up with a clever plan that made the most of his rich resources in midfield.
With Dietmar Hamann and the stylish Xabi Alonso providing a solid base, Steven Gerrard was pushed forward just behind Mellor. His deft pass to Alonso four minutes before half-time invited the Spain midfield player to shoot from 18 yards without even breaking his stride. Alonso, 23 but mature beyond his years, picked out the top corner.
Without a clean sheet for 12 matches, Arsenal trudged to the dressing-room soon afterwards but showed their class on their return. After a sluggish first half, Vieira began to run the game and scored a superb equaliser within 12 minutes. Vieira, Thierry Henry and Pires combined in a perfectly executed passing movement that put the captain through for a chipped finish.
No one could have picked a winner at that point and although Arsenal did not have another shot on target, they must have felt that they had done enough to draw. “It is very difficult to swallow coming in the last minute, especially from a kick straight from their goalkeeper,” Wenger said. The Arsenal manager went on to say that he did not think “it was a brilliant goal”. He sounded ungracious, but he was being critical of his team’s failings. First, Vieira failed to meet Chris Kirkland’s long clearance and then Sol Campbell headed the ball straight into Kewell. It fell invitingly for Mellor, although the 22-year-old still had much to do to beat Jens Lehmann.
With Manchester United gathering steam and Everton refusing to wobble in third place, nothing can be ruled out. A dull campaign is becoming more intriguing by the week.