Arsenal missed the chance to move eight points clear at the top of the Premier League after resigning themselves to a 0-0 draw at home against Liverpool on Thursday.
Disappointing for much of the campaign in which they sought to retain their title, Liverpool gave at least one good performance in the rain at the Emirates Stadium, to end Arsenal’s streak of five consecutive victories in the league.
The closest chance to a goal came when Liverpool right-back Conor Bradley attempted a lob over David Raya after a misunderstanding between Arsenal’s Spanish goalkeeper and central defender William Saliba, but the ball bounced off the crossbar.
Arsenal took just nine shots in the entire match, their lowest number at home in four years, and looked unusually disjointed, leading to frustration among the home fans during the second half.
Still, the Gunners have some reasons to be happy. Arsenal finished the most recent round as they started it, with a six-point lead over second-place Manchester City and third-place Aston Villa.
With 17 games remaining, Arsenal remain favorites to win their first league title since 2004.
City and Villa drew their games on Wednesday, against Brighton and Crystal Palace, respectively.
“We had some moments in which we had an advantage in position to really hurt them and, then, when we got to the areas, we lacked the quality to choose the players,” acknowledged Spanish Mikel Arteta, Arsenal coach. “We’ve come from a very demanding schedule… with the six games we’ve played this Christmas period… and we’ve come out of that in a really strong position.”
Ten games undefeated
Liverpool remained in fourth place and extended their unbeaten streak to ten games. The defending champions lacked any spark in attack without injured forwards Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike. In addition, Mohamed Salah is with the Egyptian team in the African Cup of Nations.
Despite everything, the Reds have strengthened defensively and dominated the midfield battle in the second half.
“We faced an incredible team, but today we showed again why we became champions last season,” said Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai. “This was a step forward after the last few weeks.”
One negative for Liverpool was injury-prone Bradley being stretchered off during second-half stoppage time with an apparent leg problem after falling awkwardly while clearing.
As Bradley writhed in pain near the touchline, Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli dropped the ball on top of his injured rival, whom he also pushed in an attempt to remove him from the field of play.
This caused shoving between the players, and Martinelli was reprimanded.
Steve Douglas is in https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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