Image Credit: Sky Sports
By Lee Clow 24 August 2019 | Premier League
Liverpool maintained their 100% record in the Premier League this season as they overpowered Arsenal 3-1 in Saturday’s evening kick off.
Right from the get-go, Liverpool started brightly and the game plan of pressing the Arsenal side was clear to see by everyone. Liverpool’s early high press almost led to a goal within 2 mins when Roberto Firmino was inches away from touching in Andy Robertson’s driven cross.
Despite controlling the first 10 minutes of the match, Liverpool almost gifted Arsenal the lead when deputy goalkeeper Adrian rushed out his goal and cleared the ball into the path of Aubameyang, whose long-range effort just fell wide of the post. Liverpool soon regained control of the tie but Arsenal took some confidence with their counter attacks with Aubameyang and Pepe.
Despite Liverpool’s press, Arsenal continued to play out from the back, and this nearly proved costly when loan signing Dani Ceballos played a horrific pass across the box into the path of Mane. To the relief of Ceballos, his defence bailed him out and smothered Manes effort on goal.
After riding the storm of Liverpool's attack, Arsenal began to ease into the game and soon created a good chance when Willock burst through the midfield. The young talent laid the ball off to Aubameyang who quickly found Pepe to go one on one with Adrian. Arsenal’s new record signing was on course to opening the deadlock, but his curling effort was tame and was easily caught by the Liverpool keeper. Pepe soon after had another chance to score when Arsenal hit Liverpool with a counter attack. The forward nicked the ball from Henderson and breezed past Robertson but once again his effort was poor and easy for Adrian.
5 minutes before the interval, Liverpool finally found the breakthrough they deserved. From a corner, Joel Matip rose the highest and fired his header past Arsenal keeper Leno into the top corner sending the Kopp and the rest of Anfield into raptures.
After half break, Liverpool once again regained control and began searching for a second goal to give them some breathing space. Liverpool soon found this when they were awarded a penalty because of David Luiz’s blatant shirt pull of Mohamed Salah. Having won the penalty, Salah stood up to the spot and fired the ball past Leno who dived the wrong way. Liverpool’s second appeared to sink Arsenal with many of the players beginning to tire.
Soon after his empathic penalty, Salah got his second and Liverpool’s third when he pulled off a spectacular 40-yard run. The Egypt international once again made a fool of David Luiz as he skipped clear on the right channel and powered through on goal before tucking the ball into the far corner of Bernd Leno's net. The Anfield crowd were in awe of Salah’s solo effort and soon began singing their chant for their star man.
From that point onwards, it was about damage limitation for Arsenal as Liverpool went in search of repeating the five-goal haul that they achieved in this fixture last season.
In the dying stages of the game, Liverpool started to take the foot of the gas and this allowed Arsenal to create some half chances. Substitute Lucas Torreira was able to tuck a chance away with five minutes remaining and this regained some pride for Unai Emery’s side. Liverpool will be disappointed to have conceded a goal, having not yet kept a clean sheet yet in their opening three games of the season. Despite the no clean sheet, the victory is massive three points for Liverpool who now remain the only team in the Premier League to have a 100% winning record.
After the match, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp spoke to the media praising his side’s amazing performance. “I saw a brilliant game from my team at this early in the season. It was outstanding. A performance full of power, full of energy and full of passion. That’s what you need against such a good team.”
Unai Emery also spoke to the media after the game and spoke optimistically about his side’s performance despite the defeat. "Yes, we are disappointed we lost 3-1 but watching some players we can be optimistic. We need to improve in possession and countering the pressure, but Liverpool is the best team with this…We have to be realistic, but we can fight closer to them. For me, today, without the result there were some good periods."
What’s next?
Liverpool’s final encounter in the Premier League before the international break is an away trip to Burnley while Arsenal return home to host the first North London Derby of the season, against biggest rivals Tottenham.
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