Arsenal share the spoils with Liverpool
Written By: Robert Halter
Arsenal faced Liverpool, and in the fourth minute, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang spearheaded the Gunners threat and from a low cross by Sead Kolasinac, at close range, Alexandre Lacazette was stifled by the quick reactions of Alisson Becker. Then a dangerous cross by Andrew Robertson, spun off Roberto Firmino’s head, before going behind off Rob Holding. On eight minutes, a long delivery by Reds captain, James Milner, went past Mohamed Salah, in an advanced position. In the fourteenth minute, through a threaded pass by Granit Xhaka, a vital interception was made by Joe Gomez, to stop the threat of Aubameyang. Following this, was an assist by Lacazette, and a left footed strike by Xhaka, was kept out by Alisson,. On sixteen minutes, a deep over the top delivery from Aubameyang, was met with a looping header over Alisson by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, which narrowly missed the goal mouth. Two minutes later, the Reds had a goal ruled out for offside, when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross was struck against the top of the right hand woodwork by Firmino, and Sane rolled the ball in, before it was disallowed. Midway through the first half, Salah sent the ball over to Virgil Van Dijk, who brought the ball down on his chest, before striking a shot underneath the arm of Gunners keeper, Bernd Leno, but at the rescue was Shkodran Mustafi, who cleared the ball off the line. Afterwards, another Salah cross deflected off Lucas Torreira, before Robertson fired the ball into the clutches of Leno. In the twenty seventh minute, Mesut Ozil, put the ball over to Kolasinac, whose effort was beaten away by Alisson, before Mkhitaryan missed timed the rebound, as Gomez cleared the ball away. In the thirty first minute, from Xhaka’s ball through, a neat touch by Mkhitaryan, was laid off to Aubameyang, whose low drive deflected narrowly wide off Van Dijk. On thirty nine minutes, Xhaka’s pass was touched on by Ozil, before the ball was struck low and fractions past the far left post by Lacazette. Then Xhaka combined again with Ozil, whose cross produced a cushioned header from Aubameyang which rose over the upright. Arsenal then had a goal ruled out for offside, after a foul on Ozil by Salah, and from a short free kick by Mkhitaryan to Ozil, a header on by Mustafi was put in the net by Lacazette, but it did not count. At the end of the half, after Lacazette appended Milner, his free kick was headed against the foot of the left post by Van Dijk, before Torreira, put the ball out of play. Fabinho got shown the first yellow card for clipping Torreira, and Mkhitaryan’s free kick, was blazed wide off a header by Mustafi, on fifty three minutes. But the deadlock was broken on sixty one minutes, after Robertson’s work down the left, and when Leno failed to hold onto Mane’s cross, the ball was drilled into the bottom left corner by Milner. The Gunners looked to respond as Mkhitaryan supplied Torreira, whose rising strike was pushed over by both hands from Alisson. The Gunners soon switched Mkhitaryan with Alex Iwobi. In the sixty ninth minute, an incisive pass by Firmino was put across by Salah, but out of the reaches of Mane, as Aubameyang conceded the corner, which Milner took, and an unmarked Firmino headed the ball past the right post. Arsenal later brought on Aaron Ramsey for Aubameyang. In the seventy fourth minute from a Salah corner, a bullet header by Van Dijk was acrobatically tipped over from Leno. Subs were made as Xherdan Shaqiri appeared for Firmino while the Gunners took off Kolasinac for Danny Welbeck. But on eighty two minutes, Arsenal drew level, as Iwobi brought into play Lacazette, who turned around Alisson, before curling the ball into the right side of the net. The Reds went back on the offense, as Shaqiri’s cross was put over by Sane, from a deflection off Hector Bellerin. Then from Milner’s corner, the ball drifted high and out of play by Salah. Near the end, Welbeck found Ozil, before Bellerin bent the ball past the top left corner. Salah was removed in stoppage time for Joel Matip as the game ended 1-1 and the Reds kept unbeaten.