Arsenal took advantage of the terrible Liverpool defending itself from behind and beat the Premier League champions 2-1 in the Emirates on Wednesday evening.
The hosts started slowly and found themselves in goal after 20 minutes when Sadio Mane returned home after a good job by Andrew Robertson. But the game changed within 12 minutes in the first half, when unusual mistakes by Virgil van Dijk and Alisson allowed Alexandre Lacazette and Reiss Nelson to clinically finish and seal all three points for North Londoners.
positives
Mikel Arteta’s team had only two significant chances, but Lacazette and Nelson’s ending was excellent.
negative
It was an extremely passive 30-minute opening that perfectly sums up why Arsenal is in the streets behind the Premier League elite. They were chasing the shadows, secondly to react to the loose balls and always playing recovery until a path was returned to the game.
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Operator rating out of 10
6 – Arteta’s men were struggling to find a way out of the Liverpool massacre, but thanks to a couple of gifts from the visiting backline, he has one of his first managerial upheavals.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Emiliano Martinez, 6 – One came out in the early stages, when his nothing doubled directly hit Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino, but the Argentinian flushes were spared when the ball glanced at the post and behind.
DF Cedric Soares, 6 – He went in search of a double plane against Robertson that would never win, and the space left behind was exploited by visitors on the way to their opener.
DF Rob Holding, 6 – Lucky not to be punished after needlessly having had problems in his defensive third in the first half, but with most of Liverpool’s comedy facing the 24-year-old, he spent a night largely at ease.
DF David Luiz, 6 – A relatively quiet evening for him, but it could have added another “David Luiz moment” to his collection when he was put on his back by Mohamed Salah’s clean footwork, before the Egyptian forced a discreet rescue from Martinez.
MF Kieran Tierney, 7 – A solid display from the Scotsman, who has appeared in all nine games since the resumption of the Premier League. It keeps Salah largely at bay in what used to be a dark area of the pitch with regards to remarkable action.
MF Bukayo Saka, 6 – Unable to impress his creative talent on the game from his left wing position, but his fleeting touches show that he has a footballing maturity beyond his years.
MF Lucas Torreira, 6 – Like many of his teammates, he was too slow to react to the imminent danger on Mane’s tap-in road. He took a yellow card in the first 30 seconds of the second half for taking down Joe Gomez.
MF Granite Xhaka, 5 – Caught the ball looking in the buildup towards the opener, which means it was half a meter away from being able to cut Robertson’s cross. Some early defenders therefore gave Liverpool a first half of the second half which they were unable to grasp. I booked to catch Naby Keita with her studs in the 81st minute.
FW Nicolas Pepe, 5 – A difficult night when he was forced to chase hopeful word games rather than orchestrate any significant attacks.
FW Reiss Nelson, 7 – He deserves credit from the Gunners equalizer after forcing Van Dijk’s mistake for Lacazette’s goal, before shrewdly throwing himself home just before the break to put his team ahead.
FW Alexandre Lacazette, 7 – A frustrating first half hour before showing a great composure to be launched in a free passage from Van Dijk to turn around Alisson and touch home. Arsenal n. 9 became supplier shortly before the break when he intercepted Alisson’s low pass before placing the ball on a plate to finish Nelson.
substitutes
MF Dani Ceballos, 6 – I booked for a poor air challenge on Takumi Minamino in the final stages.
FW Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 6 – Desperately seen little of the ball as visitors pushed for a late leveler.
MF Joe Willock, 6 – He really should have finished the game in the last minute of normal time, but cut a simple volley.
MF Ainsley Maitland-Niles, N / R – He did enough to put Mane off after the attacker came up behind Arsenal’s defense.
MF Sead Kolasinac, N / R – Helped to see things in the final stages.
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