Match Review: Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool

What a brilliant win. A lot has been made of this difficult run of fixtures and after we lost the first of them in midweek, there was some suggestion that Arsenal might be about to be found out. But as we have done each time this season, we bounced back and secured a massive win, one that sees us go five points clear (at least until the end of Sunday) and gives us a huge amount of confidence going into the next two games.

The game started in a cautious fashion, a bit like in midweek, with both sides feeling their way into the game. Liverpool played their 3-5-2 formation, with Cissokho and Flanagan playing as wing-backs and the much vaunted strike partnership of Suarez and Sturridge. But it was Henderson who had an early chance, robbing Cazorla and driving unchallenged into the area, but he fluffed his shot horribly.

Arsenal lined up without Jack Wilshere, who joined Walcott, Gnabry, Podolski, Chamberlain, Flamini and Diaby on the injury list. It’s quite staggering what we’ve managed so far given we’ve been missing big/first team players for every single game and with Diaby being the only long-term injury, you wonder what we could do when we have a full compliment.

But for the moment, the team seems to have no problem coping at the moment and we took the lead after 19 minutes. Arteta fed Sagna down the right, who bombed forward and crossed the ball. The ball bounced up for Cazorla to head powerfully against the post and the Spaniard followed up to volley home the rebound. Liverpool’s back three was ruthlessly exposed, with Sagna leaving Cissokho for dead and Skrtel left floundering as Cazorla finished. After an even opening, we found the cutting edge and took the lead for the 9th time this season.

The Emirates was absolutely rocking and it wasn’t long before Cazorla went close again, forcing Mignolet into an acrobatic save from the edge of the area. The crowd backing seemed to create a bit of buzz in the play too, as our passing noticeably gained a bit of fizz and purpose. But there was a moment of controversy when we were caught out having committed men forward.

The ball was cleared and Sturridge held off Sagna, helping the ball on to Suarez who was left one on one with Gibbs. Sagna raced back and hauled down the striker, causing the ref to blow for a freekick and reach for a yellow card. Before he could issue the card the, Liverpool tried a quick freekick, with Sturridge playing the ball across for Henderson to tap in. However, the referee blew as soon as Liverpool tried to take the freekick and pulled it back.

Liverpool were upset and it seems to have been brought up in a lot of match reports, including the BBC’s. However, a quick look at FIFA’s Laws of the game, will confirm that the referee was correct. Law 12 (Fouls and misconduct) states that:

‘Once the referee has decided to issue a card, whether to caution or send off a player, play must not be restarted until the sanction has been administered.’

As the ref hadn’t shown the card to Sagna when Liverpool tried to take the freekick, play could not continue and had to be brought back. (Thanks to @INDIEGOONER who tweeted this info)

Arsenal had the best chances in the remainder of the half. Ramsey got through after some wonderful one touch passing and had his left foot shot parried by Mignolet. Later on Cazorla had another effort from range, but dragged it wide. Half time, 1-0.

Liverpool made a change at half time, with the woeful Cissokho being replaced by Coutinho. This meant they switched to a 4-4-2 type formation, with Sakho moving to left back and Coutinho playing on the left and cutting in. They also started the second half much brighter, with Coutinho playing in Suarez down the left. Suarez clipped in a cross which found Henderson at the back post, but he blazed over the bar.

We then had two good chances of our own and both fell to Giroud. First he nipped in to intercept an errant Kolo Touré pass, but the Frenchman chipped the ball over the keeper and wide when through. Next, he could only toe poke straight at the keeper after good work from Rosicky and Cazorla. The pressure was building, we looked the better side and we doubled our lead in spectacular fashion. Play advanced down the right and Özil, under pressure, dinked a lovely ball to Ramsey. The Welshman controlled the ball, settled himself and with no-one pressuring him, smashed the ball home from 25 yards. It’s probably Ramsey’s best goal yet, an absolute belter of a goal and worthy of winning a game. Again, the Emirates was rocking.

The game remained fairly open, with Liverpool having slightly more of the ball and Arsenal happy to sit back and soak up pressure. They looked bereft of ideas in the final third and were frustrated by fantastic performances from Arteta and the back four. Still Liverpool had a few chances, the best of which was probably when the ball was lost in our half and Suarez shot wide with Sturridge in space waiting for a tap in.

Szczesny had almost gifted them a goal himself by hitting a pass straight at Sturridge in his own six yard box. Luckily for the Polish keeper it rebounded straight into his hands and he got away with it. Up the other end, Özil had a couple of chances along with Gibbs and Monreal (on for Rosicky). Worryingly, on one of the forays forward, Gibbs injured himself and had to be replaced by Vermaelen, meaning he will probably miss the game against Dortmund. However, Wenger said after the game that it’s not a serious injury, so hopefully he’ll be back for the trip to Old Trafford.

So we’ve won a massive game against one of the form teams in the league, blunting their supposedly world-beating attack in the process. Nobody is willing to call us title challengers and to be honest, even I would be cautious until we’ve seen this week out, but if we keep this form up, we’ll be right up there. We’ve been the best side in the league by a long way and we deserve our position.

It’s up to us to now make all of the Match of the Day pundits cry and still be there in May. The atmosphere at the ground was a lot better too, the crowd was noisy and backed the players from the first whistle to the last.

I saw a couple of Liverpool fans having a pop at the atmosphere on twitter, which was ironic considering their section was like a graveyard for the entire game. I guess it’s just the easy narrative about the Emirates now. Now the focus is on the trip to Dortmund we will need to be on top form to be in with a chance. Until then.

Stat of the game

Arsenal attempted 237 passes in the final third, completing 181. Liverpool attempted 131 and completed 91, meaning Arsenal completed nearly twice as many.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)Szczesny, Sagna ?, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs (Vermaelen 78′), Arteta, Ramsey, Cazorla (Jenkinson 84′ ?), Özil, Rosicky (Monreal 72′), GiroudSubsVermaelen, Monreal, Fabianski, Bendtner, Jenkinson, Akpom, Hayden

Liverpool (3-5-2)Mignolet, Flanagan (Moses 68′), Sakho, Skrtel, Kolo Touré, Cissokho ? (Coutinho 45′), Gerrard, Henderson, Lucas, Suárez, SturridgeSubsJones, Agger, Coutinho, Moses, Allen, Sterling, Kelly

Player Ratings

Szczesny	7/10	Looks very commanding, but nearly cost us a goal
Sagna	8/10	Simply superb, solid and assured, hugely important to us
Koscielny	8/10	Confined Suarez to his pocket. Absolute boss.
Mertesacker	8/10	Confined Sturridge to his pocket. Absolute boss.
Gibbs	8/10	Has become one of the best left backs in the league and showed it again
Arteta	8/10	Absolutely bossed the midfield and made Gerrard look crap.
Ramsey	8/10	Are there any words left?
Cazorla	8/10	Great goal and all round performance
Özil	6/10	Good assist but quiet otherwise, looked tired too
Rosicky	7/10	Busy and terrier like as always, such a great player
Giroud	7/10	Great hold up play as usual, but really should have scored at least once
Subs
Monreal	7/10	Quite a luxury having such an able left back deputy
Vermaelen	N/A	Chucked on at left back, not on long enough to rate
Jenkinson	N/A	Took a yellow card for the team