Arsenal visited Anfield knowing they had no chance of winning the Premier League title, but the motivation to defeat Liverpool on their own ground remained strong. Despite missing out on silverware once again, the Gunners were keen to end their season with pride, and a result at Anfield would have gone a long way to restoring some belief among their supporters.
Liverpool Start Strong, But Arsenal Hit Back
Liverpool came into the match looking to show why they were crowned champions this season. Buoyed by the Anfield crowd, the Reds dominated early proceedings and eventually broke the deadlock through Cody Gakpo. Minutes later, Luis Diaz added a second, putting the hosts firmly in control.
It was a commanding display from the Reds in the first half, and their supporters had every reason to believe they were in for a comfortable victory. However, Arsenal had other ideas. Mikel Arteta had urged his players to keep pushing despite their disappointment in Europe and the league, and they responded after the break.
The Gunners came out with renewed energy and pulled a goal back early in the second half thanks to Gabriel Martinelli. That goal gave the visitors confidence, and for a spell, it looked like Arsenal might turn the game on its head.
A Twist in the Tale
Liverpool, despite their usual strength in the second half, looked vulnerable. Arsenal took advantage and found an equaliser through Mikel Merino, who had been impressive throughout the game. However, just as the Gunners began to believe a win might be possible, Merino received a second yellow card and was sent off.
That changed the dynamic once again. Liverpool pushed hard to find a winner and even thought they had done so late on, but VAR ruled out the goal for an infringement.
It was a dramatic contest, and in the end, Arsenal left Anfield with a valuable point. While the draw doesn’t change the standings significantly, it demonstrated the Gunners’ resilience, something the fans can take heart from in a frustrating campaign.
Trossard, Rice injured, Merino suspended.
Do we even have eleven fit senior players for the next match?
Yeah easily lol
After the psg results, I’ll rather sit on the television, watch my couch than watch any of our remaining games.
Whatever floats your boat
Timothy Adegbola,
Well at least you won’t be called a couch potato. 🤣😂😉👍
One thing I learnt from this game is that Odegaard plays better when there’s movement ahead of him. The movement of Martinelli through the middle and Ben White on right flank opened up options for him. Sometimes we tend to be too static around the box.
That is a good point. Advanced midfield playmaker needs movement to do their thing. Ode just doesn’t seem either fit or in form, as the tempo maker, it’s dragging the team performance down with him.
Why’s Nanwhery not getting game time anymore?
Fully expecting to beat Southampton, so looking forward to Next Sundays big clash – we have a point to prove to them and three points seals second and CL. Should be a fun day in the sun.
How about him being the movement around the box when needed.
After going 2-0 down, I thought Liverpool would be riding on the crest of a wave and Arsenal would roll over. I remember in the last century going to Highbury to see the Coventry game after we’d already won the league. Absolutely stuffed them and i envisaged Liverpool doing that to us.
Thankfully we came back and if nothing else, it gives me some belief that even after losing in Paris , the players have some bottle left.
SueP, that would be the 6-1 game when our super Swede scored a hat-trick. It should have been 7-1, as I think it was Alan Smith who had a header from a corner which went just over the line, but it wasn’t given. Me and my mates were standing behind the goal up the Clockend and we all said it was over the line.
Against a full strength Liverpool without key players in Timber, Rice, Gabriel and Havertz i was proud of the way the players gave their all in the second half.Indeed ,had the unfortunate Merino not been sent off, i feel we could well have won the game.
I am also impresses.
Unfortunate ?
Exactly Grandad.
Also, if referees were consistent in every game regarding Merino’s second yellow card, there would be players being sent off every single game… but it’s different because it’s The Arsenal.
Apart from Skelly at PSV ?
And Rice at Newcastle ?
Nice saying Grandad, we have been watching the same game 🙂 After a dark night in Paris our boys delivered a decent game against the champions. Let’s finish with style and prepare for the next season. COYG
SueP,
I went to the Coventry game that day, and a certain Alan Smith scored a brace if my memory serves me correctly.
Oh those were the days. 😉👍
This game sums up Arteta: he is a good coach but not elite.
We could all see Merino was tired; he kept on playing him , subs late as usual and predictable.
He refuses to experiment, and Saka has played almost every game coming from a serious injury. We all said Martinelli should play as a striker and Zinchenko as a midfielder; he refused to do it.
He generally functions like an assistant manager instead of an experienced coach .
I am resolute in believing Arteta will never win a trophy, even if you give him Messi.
Also, Nwaneri better leave this club, or else he receives the ESR treatment by Arteta .
He already has won a trophy . We won FA Cup in his first year.
Nothing since then though. Nothing for about 5 years
Totally agree. Arteta is too stubborn and will not win us anything. This season is already over at the start when he signed Sterling.
Whoever said the substandard manager has brought discipline in this club should tell me what they are smoking so I can save my children from it.
Another red card! Never have I seen such a terrible discipline in my nearly 3 decades of following this great club.
The fact this season turned out to be so, doesn’t make the team notorious red card merchant. With better control of the game, we would have avoided situations like that (including referee incompetence). Last two seasons entirely and our UCL campaign this season proved just that.
They are notorious red card merchant according to reality. You can enjoy your delusions and feeble excuses as is your right but you won’t be lying to anyone but yourself, as is your right also.
No they are not! Our previous two seasons proves that. Poor refereeing decisions and lack of control of the game due to injuries has contributed to our disciplinary record this season. You sound like it’s a good thing we do season in season out.
can you explain what control of the game means? We have the most RC’s this season now. Surely there are many teams below us that have far less control of their games than us. Are we talking about possession? Losing our heads? If the latter, surely some of that does fall on the manager/club/ as well as individual.
When I say control, I talk about dominance in possession,minimal errors,killing off the game before opponents get a sniff and midfield superiority. We’ve managed that in Europe this season but not quite domestically due to lower fire power compared to previous seasons.
Nearly 30 years of being an Arsenal fan and you can’t remember the amount of red cards under the previous manager ? 🙄
I will not take any of your Wenger’s criticisms seriously when they are driven by pure hatred for the man. An older supporter like you putting the substandard manager before the great one and the club is a disappointment of high proportion.
You should be an example to our young gunners instead of teaching them to embrace mediocrity. Or do you think Arsenal is a very small club like your fellow Lucy78?
HH, there is no hatred of Wenger ! Just stating facts. Now if you can’t handle facts, that’s your problem !
Substandard manager, please explain ?
HH, the only person I hate on the footballing side of The Arsenal is that 🐀 Fabregas, due to the way he forced his move to Barcelona !
Personally I don’t blame the players who forced moves in that era because the club’s ambition was only to make top 4 and making profit for buying cheap and selling dear (courtesy of Wenger’s genius).
We have to remember some players claim to have been forced out because the club needed the money.
The great one for better or for worse chose to shield the owners and that business model. He should’ve known better seeing how they repaid him in the end for all his sacrifices.
I blame a player that does that, especially after getting a £10m signing on fee when he signed his last contract extension.
Also our last game of the previous season we needed a result at Fulham to secure CL football. Where was our captain ? Back in Barcelona watching the Grand Prix. He should have been at Fulham encouraging the players.
What more explanation do you need when everything is obvious to those without rose tinted galsses?
A manager who spend close to a billion and yet can’t win even a Carabao Cup to save his life in 5 years, can he be anything than substandard?
You sir have a deep hatred for Wenger. Why bother to deny it?
He’s taken us back into the CL, and in his first 2 seasons in that competition he’s got to the quarter finals and then the semi finals, not bad really.
Lost respect for him, yes, when he started disrespecting us match going supporters, hatred NO !
Also HH, please don’t call me sir, as you not my slave.
HH,
I read your post further up where you rightly call out our red card record this season. But I have to also point out that under Wenger, and I’m a Wenger fan by the way. That we did get quite a few red cards during his stewardship to be fare. Although with him being Arsenal manager for 22 years, that was only to be expected.
And half the time, he did not see it. 😂🤣👍😉 You’ve got to laugh haven’t you.
Derek,
He didn’t see it. I loved the man, but it was cringeworthy for him to defend the indefensible by not seeing it. Of course he did. No different to Arteta getting defensive and making a twit of himself in the heat of the moment. It shows passion from both men
What made me laugh SueP,
Is that whenever it was for Arsenal he didn’t see it. But if it was against Arsenal, he suddenly developed 20-20 vision. 🤣😂👍😉
🍷There’s your G&T by the way. 😊
Down the hatch already, Derek. Chin chin
Yes Derek but you won’t anywhere muppets trying to defend red cards under the great one.
He won loads of trophies with those red cards, made legendary players and built a stadium too.
You see, I love the great man to death but you won’t find me finding ridiculous excuses for his shortcomings. Mikel Sylvester to Arsenal is still the worst transfer deal I have seen in my life. With the Petr Cech one closely second.
What has the poor man’s Pep done to make us overlook this terrible discipline record?
We have the most red cards since he took over Arsenal yet you will find some clowns praising him for “instilling discipline” in the squad.
Where is that discipline I don’t see it?
Derek my reply to you has gone into moderation. Probably I have used some blocked words.
And your hatred towards Arteta?
Look in the mirror mate..
Best comment this year. Well said Chronicle. Getting abit boring isnt?
I have not made a secret of that Chronicle unlike some Wenger haters because I can backup my dislike of him whereas they can’t. Haters in the closet I call them.
You can even call me the substandard manager hater if you like.
HH, who are these “Wenger haters” ?
Vitinha is a player mate lol
Who did UEFA officially award the man of the match too lol 😉
Yeah because I notice you make allot of things up mate 😉
I think it’s wrong to not tell the truth
Does me and my friend head in 😉
Question is why did you not tell the truth ?
You saw what
UEFA announced him MOTM?
Didn’t happen mate
As I posted previously, I saw him with the MOTM trophy.
I admitted I made a mistake, why do you have to keep going on about ?
In both games ?
😉
So you’ve forgotten Arsene’s disciplinary record with his players then HH?
AS far as I know MA hasn’t been sent off either, unlike Arsene at Old Trafford!!
Didn’t stop Mr Wenger winning things though Ken which should teach us not to hide behind red cards as an excuse
Dan
Knowing that we have the worst record for red cards, it is quite telling that some other clubs have a very poor record compared to ours in terms of collecting yellows. Chelsea have nearly 40 more yellow cards than us. That’s a substantial difference. With Bournemouth a close second to Chelsea. In fact our yellow cards along with Brentford are just behind City who have 55 to our 56
Our reds seem out of character for a team that has a very respectable fair play record
Sue just wanting to add my thoughts on Trent
Yet if someone said to us now Saka will win the CL , 2 Prems an FA Cup and I think 2 League Cups ?
But he will then go to Real Madrid
I would take that deal lol
In fact I drive him to air port
78 red cards in 828 PL games Ken. Patrick Vieira got 7 of them, including 2 in 2 consecutive games.
The Highbury one friend 😉
The point is not whether either of you were at the games, or whether Arsene won the games – the point was made by HH that Arsenal had a terrible disciplinary record under MA – I just asked if he’d forgotten AW’s record… simple as that.
Dan, as for making things up, I refer you to your article regarding liverpool’s fans.
Any comments on that one?
He asked me if I was at the game ?
Hence that was the point lol
So no comment on your Liverpool article then Dan!?
Ken, Dan can’t admit that he was wrong, it’s not in his nature.
You can’t be wrong with opinions peeps
You can only be wrong with facts
Factually you lied who was man of the match 😉
But Dan, when you wrote that article, you said it was factually correct that Liverpool fans were the culprits and you were wrong.
Why can’t you just admit it and then it goes away?
I don’t get it, I really don’t!!
Ken1945,
Regarding Arsenal’s disciplinary records under both Wenger and Arteta.
For me personally, although it’s frustrating when said player is shown the red card for whatever reason. Red cards happen, like it or not it’s part of the game.
Something the managers have to address when needed. But there was a quote that under Wenger there was 78 red cards in 828 games.
And a certain Patrick Viera had 7 red cards, 2 on the trot at some point. Well with the position and the type of player that he was and where he played is it really that surprising. It’s not really is it.
And the amount of red cards isn’t surprising either, Wenger managed Arsenal for 22 years which works out at about 3. something a season. Although not ideal, it happens. And at the end of the day, I think you’ll agree that sending’s off or not, we still had our fare share of success to look back on.
Red cards happen, end of. 👍😉
What about the red card when we was 4-0 up against Newcastle? Ended the game with 9 men twice under Arsene. 72 red cards under Arsene in total.
Have you ever tried to find something positive to write about? I read solely negative stuff from your keyboard. COYG
I responded to HH
Why would you care? What are you losing with my negativity? When you see my name just ignore it and read the others.
@HH
Haha, I knew it! I said it in the previous thread. Arteta would be blamed by some “fans” for the sending off! And you say you don’t have an agenda.
Yet again, you also have exposed how little you actually know of Arsenal. “Never have I seen such a terrible discipline in my nearly 3 decades of following this great club.” Clearly you seem to have forgotten Wenger’s time at the club and his terrible issues with discipline.
Honestly, are you even a fan? Clearly you must have massive memory issues then.
He only remembers what suits his narrative Lucy. He clearly hates Arteta and anyone who defends him. Worships Wenger like some sort of God. He was calling Arteta useless, substandard and questioning us tactically on a half time post on the Liverpool game. Then straight after the game blaming Arteta for the red. No mention of the tactical changes that brought us from 2-0 down to 2-2. I called him out after the PSG game as again he was spouting nonsense.
Proud of the boys, came back from behind and could have won the game. Though I’m pleased with the point. COYG!
but is that not the arsenal way…… could have !.
Martinelli up front was an important after all
I have been saying this so many times that Martinelli should play as CF
His movement is really very good and finishing is decent
Kedar Martinelli at CF works well against teams that play open football like Liverpool because he has the space to run into. But that is like five teams in the league. It likely doesn’t work against the majority teams that set up with a low block. For those you need a physical presence and hold up play which aren’t his strengths.
I think it’s the worst I have seen saka play! Boy seems to be on holiday nothing worked for him today. Should have been subbed much earlier.
Since his injury he will need time
Superstar player
Good comeback after a poor 1st half. The captain looked like he is getting back to the player we all know he is.
After a poor first half where we made mistake after mistake and looked like a bunch of individuals. The second half was better and we obviously then got back to all square. Spoiled only by yet another red card and all our own fault. A draw and a win should do us for second🤞
Substitutions were very late and we paid for it. Saka and Merino were running on air.
Not air, fumes🙂
Who or what do you put the change down to Reggie?
Not a clue Ken. It was complete surprise after the very poor 1st half.
Have a guess Reggie
The signs in the first half were that Liverpool would have a field day. Home crowd, 2 quick goals and a horrible feeling that I got that we would deflate en masse after the effort and disappointment in Europe so recently.
Perhaps Liverpool believed they had won it at half time, and thought that we were there for the taking. I thought Liverpool would have the confidence to seal the victory having won the title so emphatically. Could it have been Arsenal’s half time team talk that produced a better second half and showed the inner strength from the manager and players to keep going in what could have seen a lesser team fold?
That’s my take on it. Down but not out. The score line for Liverpool- apart from further bragging rights wasn’t so important. Arsenal needed more and got more. That bodes well for the match against Newcastle towards their aim of taking second place.
Arsenal: Tactical and player switches; reduced errors in possession, increased movement, drive and pace.
Liverpool: Complacency, reduced pressure out of possession, defensive errors.
Sue, I didn’t think we were that fantastic, second half. We rode our luck a bit. Liverpool didn’t need to go balls out, they had it won. BUT their slight drop off and our improvement was, in the end enough for a draw. The first half was a shambles, poor passes, poor position and poor finishing. Second half was obviously because of a major bollocking. And poor play from Liverpool, it has to be said. BUT we came back and for whatever reason, restored some pride that was going to be hammered after the first half. The BIG worry is the difference. How do you really explain a chalk and cheese performance? That is our season and that highlights some of the problems even more. Sloppy, naive, wide open and flaws, that are punished. But we are also able to turn it round, with the same team?
SueP,
I think it was a mixture of two things really. One Arsenal improved in the second half, which lets face it wouldn’t have been hard.
And two, Liverpool took their foot off the gas. Why would they bother overstretching themselves. They’ve already won the league, and therefore they’re on cruise control aren’t they. 👍
Absolutely right Derek and that’s why I mentioned the hammering we gave Coventry all those years ago after we had won the league. No fears or worries, just the freedom to show off to the home fans. After going 2 down I thought Liverpool would turn it on and embarrass us.
Some quite fascinating comments here from last night and this morning. Thanks for the insight👏.
Wow!!! Some people!!!
Jax,
I’m glad your enjoying yourself. 😉👍👏
A great performance by the players. They were resilient and never gave up. I hope Arteta plays Martinelli as a CF and plays Trossard as LW, it suits them both and they are effective in these positions.
Shocking first half followed by a fightback in the second half that gives us optimism going forward, had Merino not been sent off I had a feeling we were heading for a dramatic late winner but it was not to be. Here’s hoping for a nice win at home to the chippy Geordies and a big win away at the saints and let’s look forward to some early business getting done in pre-season.