Arsenal beat ten-man Liverpool 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday evening to reduce the gap to just two points at the summit of the Premier League standings.
Bukayo Saka gave the hosts an early lead in the 14th minute before the visitors rode their luck to equalize just on the stroke of halftime.
In an evenly contested second half, a mix-up between Virgil Van Dijk and goalkeeper Alisson gifted the Gunners their second when Gabriel Martinelli slotted home into an empty net.
Ibrahim Konate was sent off in the 88th minute before substitute Leandro Trossard sealed the victory for Mikel Arteta’s side a couple of minutes into added on time.
Liverpool struggle despite recent form
Liverpool came into this encounter having lost just twice in their last 34 Premier League games as manager Jurgen Klopp made three changes from the side that thrashed Chelsea 4-1 in midweek.
Darwin Nunez started on the bench due to an injury concern, while Dominik Szoboszlai and Conor Bradley missed out.
This meant that Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cody Gakpo, and Ryan Gravenberch all started for the visitors in North London. For Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus was ruled out through injury as Kai Havertz came into the starting lineup.
Arsenal started the better of the two sides and should have been ahead in the 11th minute. After a quick counterattack, Martinelli outpaced Konate on the left wing to deliver an inch-perfect cross for Saka, but the English winger headed wide with the goal at his mercy.
Three minutes later, Arsenal opened up the Liverpool defense when Martin Odegaard found Havertz with a through ball but the latter saw his shot saved by Alisson. The rebound fell kindly to Saka who fired into the net to give his side the lead.
Trossard put the game beyond doubt for Arsenal
Dominant Gunners deserved win
The Gunners were dominant in the first half with quick transitions, not allowing Liverpool to set into their rhythm, and were unlucky to head into the tunnel with the scores level.
As William Saliba intercepted Gravenberch’s flighted pass, Luis Diaz managed to poke the ball that took a deflection off Gabriel’s foot to slide into the net to restore parity.
In an evenly contested second half, Arsenal had a penalty claim waved off in the 63rd minute by referee Anthony Taylor with VAR sticking to the on-field decision.
Just minutes later, Alisson came out off his line but failed to clear Gabriel’s harmless long ball as Martinelli slotted into an empty net to restore the Gunners’ lead.
Liverpool did make several changes to get back into the game but hardly garnered any clear-cut opportunities.
Konate was then sent off as he received a second yellow for bringing down substitute Reiss Nelson before Trsossard sealed the game in the second minute of stoppage time.
The Belgian did brilliantly to dart into the left wing before his shot took a deflection off Van Dijk to hit the back of the net going in between Alisson’s legs.
The result means Arsenal now have 49 points from 23 games, two behind Liverpool, while reigning Champions are on 46 with two games in hand.
Photo credit: IMAGO / Propaganda Photo
