Gabriel and Timber walk off to add to Arsenal’s injury woes.
Salah strikes late into the second half and rescues a draw for Liverpool.
Set Piece brings Arsenal a goal again – Rice and Merino combine to score.
Van Dijk responds with an equaliser.
Saka scores early to the jubilation of the home fans.
Match Report
It was a captivating encounter between the two frontrunners for the Premier League title. Arsenal began the match on the front foot even though they were without the services of William Saliba and Riccardo Calafiori from their first-choice back four. They quickly got a lead as Bukayo Saka sprinted past Andy Robertson to a Ben White’s pass. Robertson did recover to defend the net but Saka beat him again to strike in at Caoimhin Keller’s near post and score. The home fans were left in a frenzy.
Liverpool came back into the match from a corner kick. Virgil van Dijk headed home a Luis Diaz’s shot to equalise. Arsenal responded again as they powered through via a set piece to restore their lead before halftime. Declan Rice’s free kick set it up for Merino to head in a goal past Kelleher. VAR reviewed it for offside but Merino was onside by a fine margin to score his first goal for his club.
Post halftime, Arsenal had further injury blows as Gabriel (knee injury) and Jurrien Timber had to be substituted. Liverpool finally took advantage of Arsenal not having their best defense setup to score their next comeback equaliser. Trent Alexander-Arnold fired a long ball down the right flank that stretched Arsenal’s defense. Darwin Nunez took full advantage of it with a burst of speed to go behind the line before squaring to Salah who was clinical with his finish.
The match ended with the scoreline reading 2-2. Both teams played some great football, Arsenal had the edge on controlled attack while Liverpool hit back with counters. Both Arteta and Slot would have felt a win was possible for their side. The final result of a draw leaves Liverpool one point behind the new league table leaders Manchester City while Arsenal are now five points behind. The Premier League fight is already heating up.
