Early play was dominated by Liverpool, who mounted several attacks on the Arsenal goal but found difficulty breaking through Arsenal's defence. As the half progressed play became for the most part evenly balanced, with Arsenal mounting more counterattacks on the break and Liverpool's best chances coming largely from free kicks deep in Arsenal's half of the field. The best opportunities to break the deadlock came late in the half, with Ray Clemence forced to make a reflex save of a header from George Armstrong in the 41st minute, followed in the 44th minute by a similarly fine diving save by Bob Wilson from Alec Lindsay, the result of a free kick. Earlier in the half, Ray Kennedy had caused several problems for the Liverpool defence, and a long range effort from Charlie George also narrowly failed to find the net.