CRACKERS!
Madness at Emirates as rivals serve up festive feast
Arsene Wenger called it a ‘thriller’ as Arsenal and Liverpool served up a stunning 3-3 draw at the emirates last night. The gunners went from two down to leading 3- 2 before roberto Firmino equalised with 19 minutes left in a breathless start to the Christmas programme. even Arsenal full back Ainsley Maitlandniles admitted: ‘It was like basketball.’ Liverpool dominated the first half and led through Philippe Coutinho, then drew further in front when Mo salah scored his 15th league goal of the season. But the dodgy
defending of Jurgen Klopp’s side was exposed as Alexis sanchez, granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil all scored in five chaotic minutes.
And even after Firmino equalised the game was played to a frantic finale with chances at both ends.
To make matters worse, Xhaka’s equalising goal came through a howler by simon Mignolet which left sky pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher claiming the reds would never win the Premier League with the Belgian in goal.
But Klopp refused to blame him, saying: ‘He misjudged it. A second hand would have helped but that is how it is.
‘You don’t need to make it bigger than it is. It felt like we shouldn’t have conceded but we did.’
His bigger problem was the way his side collapsed in a tumultuous four minutes and 45 seconds which saw them concede three goals.
He said: ‘It feels really strange. It is difficult to explain, we should be three, four even five-nil up before we don’t defend a cross. A point at Arsenal is a good result for most teams in the world but it feels not too good at the moment.
‘We made mistakes on both sides of the game but it is unlikely to win 6-3 or something at Arsenal. We didn’t take all our chances but three goals should be enough. Arsenal were not in the game apart from 10 minutes.’
Liverpool’s former england midfielder James Milner admitted: ‘We have to become more boring. Those are the times you have to tighten up. All the goals were our fault and that’s something we have to learn from. It seems to be a thing for us this year.’ Last season on the opening weekend, Liverpool ran out 4-3 winners at the emirates after leading 4- 1 at one stage and this match harked back to that day. Wenger admitted he had to get to work on his players after a shocking first half. ‘I felt we were paralysed and frozen,’ he said. ‘We played too deep and gave too many balls away — it was good that we were only one down because it could have been game over. But we have a team that has won the most points from losing positions and you could see why.
‘It was a thriller of a game. You always have regrets when you are 3-2 up and don’t win but to be fair I would say it was a fair result.’
When asked whether his team should have ‘parked the bus’ to see out a 3-2 win, Wenger replied: ‘I don’t know what you mean by parking the bus, I don’t know who created this, but it’s not a lot to do with football.’
Klopp also apologised to Arsenal fans after he threw a water bottle to the floor in a frenzy following Liverpool’s equaliser.
Klopp lost it when roberto Firmino scored his side’s third goal, slamming his bottle to the turf in excitement. His actions could land the german in hot water with the FA.
But Klopp said: ‘I was happy and it was a kind of aggressive happy. I have made my apology. But if the people (Arsenal fans) would all apologise for what they said to me, it would take a little bit longer than my apology. I react sometimes a little bit strange.
‘Maybe it’s not nice. The ref told me. But I took it back and I could still empty it afterwards so nothing serious. I was not happy about that moment but I really thought it was the least we deserved.’
Meanwhile, Liverpool are sweating on the fitness of captain Jordan Henderson, who limped off with a hamstring injury in the 13th minute.