Strikes in either half from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, and a late Leandro Trossard goal, gave us a well-deserved win in a high octane Premier League clash at Emirates Stadium.
Saka fired us ahead on 14 minutes, when Kai Havertz’s shot was saved, only for the league leaders to capitalise on a defensive mistake on the stroke of half-time to tie things up with a Gabriel own goal.
A defensive mistake from Liverpool helped us restore the lead midway through the second half, when Martinelli was in the right place to profit from an Alisson Becker air kick.
Substitute Trossard squeezed in a third in injury-time - after Ibrahima Konate had been red carded - to seal the win in an unforgettable Premier League encounter.
Positive start rewarded
Amid a bubbling atmosphere at kick off, we made an electric start in this, our third meeting with Liverpool in the last seven matches.
In the opening exchanges Saka screwed a shot wide from a narrow angle after Martin Odegaard won the ball inside the Liverpool box, and moments later the England man came even closer.
David Raya claimed a deep Liverpool cross under pressure and immediately released Martinelli with a long throw over the half-way line. Martinelli raced forward on the left, and whipped in a dangerous cross to the galloping Saka, who threw himself at the diving header, but couldn’t make proper contact. It would have been a magnificent, back to front goal from the Gunners.
Two strikes for Saka in the opening ten minutes then, but with his third attempt he punished Liverpool. Odegaard picked out a wonderful pass in the middle of the pitch to find Havertz, bearing down on goal. His shot was parried by Alisson, but the ball fell to Saka, just onside, to control and finish left footed to send the home supporters wild.
Intensity maintained
The challenges were snapping in, the passes were fizzing – both teams knew exactly what was at stake at the top of the Premier League table
Declan Rice and Jorginho were beginning to dominate the midfield battle, and our hard-working and intense press was paying dividends. Odegaard meanwhile was seeing a lot of the ball in dangerous areas as we looked to press home our superiority. The skipper himself had a shot blocked inside the area but as the half wore on the visitors began to make their presence felt.
Cody Gakpo came close to getting on the end of a whipped in cross from the right, but we were still on top. Gabriel’s low shot from the edge of the box was easily gathered, and Rice had a shot from the edge of the area charged down at close range.
Liverpool level
So Liverpool’s leveller – deep in first-half injury time, came against the run of play, and was tough to take. William Saliba tried to shield the ball away from Luis Diaz in the box, back to Raya, but the Colombian got a foot in, it bounced off Gabriel’s arm and into our own net. A real mix up.
Liverpool had not had a shot on target in the opening half – including the equaliser – so it completely changed the atmosphere inside the stadium going into the interval.
We still looked shell shocked as the second period got underway. The visitors had three attempts in as many minutes to start the second period. Diaz, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones all came close in quick succession as gaps appeared in our defence.
We needed to show some composure, and a well worked move outside the Liverpool box resulted in our first sight of goal since the interval. Havertz rolled the ball to Odegaard, he shifted it onto his left but his shot was deflected behind for a corner.
Back in front
Havertz then had a strong penalty appeal turned down, after tangling with Mac Allister in the area, but moments later we were in the lead again.
A long pass over the top from Gabriel seemed to be covered by Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, but the Liverpool keeper completely missed his attempted clearance, and Martinelli could roll the ball home from the edge of the area.
The decibel levels lifted again in response. On came Reiss Nelson and Leandro Trossard on the wings, but it was the half-time sub - Jakub Kiwior - who had a great chance to make it 3-1, only to head straight at Alisson when well placed, and in plenty of space inside the box.
With the tension ramping up, Konate was dismissed for a second bookable offence in the final five minutes.
The one way to relieve all that pressure was to score a third goal. Trossard duly obliged. The Belgian raced away down the left, then squeezed his shot home through Alisson’s legs at the near post. Cue jubilant celebrations on the touchline, and in the stands.
The 200th league meeting between these sides turned out to be one of the very best. And it could yet prove to be a crucial result at the season’s end.
What’s next
We now have three away games in a row. Next Sunday we take on West Ham United at the London Stadium, and the following weekend we travel to Turf Moor to face Burnley. That will be followed by the first leg of our Champions League Round of 16 tie, away to Porto.
Match facts
● We have won two of our four Premier League games against teams starting the day top of the table under Mikel Arteta, as many victories as we had in our previous 17 such matches prior to the Arteta's arrival.
● We are unbeaten in our last four Premier League games against Liverpool (W2 D2), our longest unbeaten run against the Reds in the competition since between the 2014/15 and 2015/16 campaigns (W1 D3).
● We have opened the scoring in four straight league games against Liverpool for the first time since between August 1967 and November 1970 (a run of six). Indeed, we are the team with the most goals scored in the opening 15 minutes of Premier League games against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool (6).
● Gabriel Martinelli has scored five goals against Liverpool, his joint-most against an opponent for us (level with Crystal Palace).
● Bukayo Saka is one of only two Premier League players with more than 10 goals and 10 assists across all competitions this season (11 goals, 12 assists), along with Darwin Nunez.
● This was Saka's 49th senior goal for us in all competitions, and his 99th goal involvement.
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