What a fantastic game Liverpool and Arsenal played at Anfield last night. The quality and pace of the game was as good and high as anything you will see in world football.

Liverpool came through in the end but nobody could fail to recognise the part that Arsenal played in the game. For the first twenty-five minutes Arsenal dominated the game and passed Liverpool off the park. When Diaby put Arsenal ahead they looked to be totally in control.

Liverpool gradually got back in the game and a dreadful piece of defending by Senderos allowed Hypia to get Liverpool back in the game with, to be fair, a wonderfully powerful and accurate header.

Liverpool seemed to take over after that goal and they appeared to be the most likely winners. It was no surprise when Torres fired them into the lead, nor was the quality of the wonderful finish. In all truth, it was the first contribution Torres had made, but what a contribution it was.

It seemed all over and Arsenal looked like a tired and defeated team. Then the young talent that is Theo Walcott stepped forward and went on an exciting and amazing run before setting up a simple finish for Adebayor who made no mistake this time after missing a really good chance to equalise a few minutes earlier.

All of a sudden Arsenal were going through and Liverpool were on the way out. Somehow Liverpool drove forward again and Babel managed to get on the wrong side of Toure. Toure brought Babel down and the penalty was given. Was it a penalty? Probably yes. Was it more of a penalty than the foul committed by Kuyt in the first leg? Definitely not.

Steve Gerrard stepped up and hammered the ball into the top corner. There was never any doubt. Would he have done the same in a penalty shoot out for England?

The final nail in Arsenal's coffin was hammered in by Ryan Babel who ran through on goal and brushed aside a very tired looking Fabrigas and finished clinically.

Liverpool probably deserved their victory but Arsenal played their part in a wonderful game of football. Liverpool can look forward to a third Champions League semi-final against Chelsea in four years. They can look forward to the game knowing that they are not a two man team. Apart from the goal, Torres was totally ineffective. Apart from the penalty, Gerrard had as poor a game as I've seen him have for Liverpool.

Arsenal have to pick themselves up for a game at Old Trafford. It won't be easy as they looked like a tired and dejected team. I fear that their season effectively ended when Gerrard's penalty hit the back of the net.

Who will win the semi-final? I don't know, but as a neutral, if the game gets anywhere near the quality of this second leg, I will be happy.