March 17, (THEWILL) – Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium courtesy of goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino, bringing the Reds to within a point of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.
In an absorbing first half in north London, Arsenal were the superior side, but Mikel Arteta’s charges were unable to turn the screw and hit the back of the goal, something they would pay for in the second half as Jurgen Klopp’s men came flying out of the blocks.
Jota opened the score against Arsenal with his sixth goal in his past four games, before Firmino doubled the lead following superb work from Andrew Robertson on the left-hand flank.
In the first half, Liverpool came close to taking the lead via Virgil van Dijk, but Arsenal displayed incredible passion and intent to seize control of the game.
The Gunners had great success passing through the lines after nullifying any space Jota, Luis Diaz, and Sadio Mane would look to drop into. Gabriel Martinelli was particularly bright on the left flank, terrorising Trent Alexander-Arnold whenever he got hold of the ball.
Despite being on top, Arteta’s team failed to create a clear-cut chance, with Martinelli’s clearing effort the closest they came to scoring.
After the break, Liverpool obviously improved and began to put players like Thiago, Jordan Henderson, and Fabinho on the ball more, but the game’s highlight came when Alisson produced a spectacular sprawling save to deny Martin Odegaard.
After being caught off guard by Thiago’s misplaced pass, Alisson made himself huge – almost Peter Schmeichel-like – and put a flailing arm in the way to deny Odegaard, who was through on goal with only the Brazilian to beat.
Thiago made up for his error minutes later with a fantastic assist for Jota’s goal, sliding a wonderfully weighted ball between Cedric and Ben White for the Portuguese forward to sprint onto.
The rest was up to the 25-year-old, though Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale will be irritated that he was beaten at his near post by a strike that he should have stopped.
Eight minutes later, Arsenal were the architects of their own demise for failing to clear their lines. That was beneficial for substitute after Robertson had stolen the ball from Saka out wide and squared the ball across the six-yard box.
The Reds then put the pressure on Arsenal as the action wore on producing a couple of decent chances for Mane and Mohamed Salah, and they comfortably saw out the game, bringing up their ninth consecutive Premier League victory and ending Arsenal’s five-match winning streak.
Arsenal’s next Premier League match is on the road at Aston Villa on Saturday. Liverpool will play Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Sunday.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
