Sanchez’s omission hits Arsenal as Reds take advantage
THE pressure ramped up on Arsene Wenger last night after his suicidal decision to drop top scorer Alexis Sanchez backfired spectacularly.
By the time the Arsenal boss had bitten the bullet and sent on his Chilean top scorer, his team was two down to a Liverpool side who themselves were teetering on the brink of crisis after their own abject show at Leicester.
Roberto Firmino got the first after nine minutes and Sadio Mane added another six minutes from the break.
Wenger threw Sanchez on at the start of the second half and within 12 minutes he’d created a goal for Danny Welbeck, but it wasn’t enough and Georginio Wijnaldum sealed victory with a third in the last minute.
When these two met on the season’s opening day, both had very legitimate title ambitions.
With two months to go, the reverse fixture looked more of a decider for fourth place.
Defeat was always going to end the title hopes of one of these two. Perhaps not mathematically, but by any measure of logic.
Despite their failings against opposition from lower down the table, Liverpool lead the minileague involving the top six. They’ve now picked up 19 points and haven’t lost against any of the other five.
In contrast, Arsenal started bottom of that mini- league with five points and stayed there.
Klopp said after the horror show at Leicester that everyone’s future is on the line, his as well as his players’
The German is under scrutiny for the first time since he replaced Brendan Rodgers 16 months ago.
Well, as the Wenger felt the pressure increase, Klopp felt it ease.
Wenger is accustomed to discontent among the Arsenal fans, but with his contract still to be signed, the dissenting voices are louder than ever.
So dropping Sanchez was an enormous gamble.
He talked about wanting to play a more direct game, but there was a suspicion that the player’s stance on his new contract might have played a part. When you make a big call like that, it has to work and it didn’t.
Wenger’s face was a picture when the cameras focused in on him as Firmino opened the scoring. So, too, for that matter was Sanchez’s.
Firmino got his goal simply by waiting at the back post while Arsenal failed to deal with a low cross from Mane.
The goal didn’t open any floodgates, but neither did it provoke a response from Arsenal, who looked lacking in any sort of spirit.
Liverpool won the 50- 50s and most of the 40- 60s. Traffic was distinctly one way.
Coutinho’s rocket of a left- footer was tipped away by Petr Cech in the 28th minute and he blocked another effort by Francis Coquelin.
Mane curled a good chance wide, but more than made amends when he drilled in the second pure and true when left in acres of space inside the Gunners’ box.
Coutinho should have killed the game off a minute from time when he was clean through against Cech, but hit his shot straight at the keeper.
Wenger swallowed his pride and sent Sanchez on for Coquelin at half-time. Unsurprisingly, the team immediately improved – and that in itself reflected badly on Wenger.
Within three minutes, Olivier Giroud almost gave the Gunners a lifeline with a towering header from Nacho Monreal’s cross, but Simon Mignolet brilliantly pushed it onto the crossbar and grabbed the ball as it dropped.
Then in the 57th minute Sanchez played a killer ball between Nathaniel Clyne and Ragnar Klavan and W el beck clipped it over Mignolet.
Shkodran Musta fiscooped Coutinho’s cross-shot over his own bar, but suddenly all Liverpool’s first half verve was visibly evaporating.
Wenger played his final cards – a double 74rd minute substitution that brought on Lucas Perez and Theo Walcott – but after a pretty ropey spell, it was Liverpool who recovered the initiative in the final quarter.
Cech saved Joel Matip’s glancing header and Liverpool’s own sub Divock Origi was unlucky when he headed James Milner free- kick against the foot of Cech’s post.
Liverpool did seal it in stoppage time when Wijnaldum swept Origi’s low cross into the bottom corner.