Arsenal hit back to quell mutiny in six-goal feast
Christmas is supposed to be a time for miracles and, from a sporting perspective at least, the five second-half minutes that Arsenal produced to rescue this game was something close.
They had been outplayed, outrun and outfought by Liverpool for almost an hour and were flattered by the 2-0 deficit. The teams had seemed almost to be playing at two entirely different speeds and every pundit who had dismissed Arsene Wenger as yesterday’s man in the face of a new breed of supposedly more tactically sophisticated coaches was clearing his throat for a familiar analysis.
Then up stepped Alexis Sanchez, Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil to turn the match on its head and transform the atmosphere inside the Emirates Stadium from outright mutiny to pure ecstasy.
Liverpool did still gather themselves and recover to fashion a deserved equaliser through Roberto Firmino but, having been so dominant for so long, rightly felt most frustrated by a 3-3 draw.
It was arguably the game of the season – and fabulous attacking entertainment for the neutral – even if familiar defensive errors underlined why both teams are ultimately probably locked in a battle with Tottenham to finish fourth.
The greater long-term concerns should still rest with Arsenal. They got away with this and, had Klopp’s “Fab Four” of Mohamed Salah, Philippe Coutinho, Firmino and Sadio Mane delivered a fraction more of their usual attacking fluency, it would have been over by half-time.
Arsenal’s big wins this year against other “big six” opponents – Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – had all been achieved with three central defenders and Wenger surely made a mistake in retaining both the personnel and 4-2-3-1 system that had been used to beat Newcastle United in the Premier League last week.
Counter-attacks were just about their only threat and the need to quickly chase one hopeful ball forward in the direction of Ozil was enough to end Jordan Henderson’s game with a hamstring injury. James Milner replaced him and the basic pattern of the game was unchanged.
Liverpool’s first clear chance arose when Andrew Robertson’s deep back-post cross found Fir-
mino completely unmarked, only for Petr Cech, on his 100th Arsenal appearance, to block his header. Another deep ball to the exact same area again caught out Ainsley Maitland-niles but Firmino’s header went just wide.
A Liverpool goal already felt inevitable and, following the breakdown of a rare Arsenal attack, Salah was released by Milner down the right into space that had been vacated by Maitland-niles. Liverpool were fortuitous in how his cross then cannoned up off Laurent Koscielny and towards Coutinho, but the Brazilian’s glancing header over Cech was deadly.
The very simple tactic of aerial balls into Arsenal’s left-back position remained profitable for Liverpool, with Dejan Lovren then running onto a free-kick from Coutinho and spurning an excellent chance.
Arsenal continued to ride their luck when Koscielny slipped and inadvertently played Salah clear on goal. Cech blocked Salah’s attempted finish and the ball bobbled back over Mane, whose acrobatic volley sailed narrowly over. Arsenal departed for half-time to boos from their own fans but Wenger’s only change was of personnel rather than formation.
Nacho Monreal was replaced at centre-back by Shkodran Mustafi and he also surprisingly retained faith with all six players further forward who had barely influenced the game. His team duly continued simply to survive.
A quick break forward left Jack Wilshere and Xhaka unable to respond but Arsenal were again rescued by Cech, who got down well to save Salah’s low shot. Liverpool would not keep wasting their chances and, after Wilshere and Xhaka were again unable to offer sufficient defensive protection, Salah did punish them.
There was again some luck about the finish, however, with the Egypt winger’s 21st goal this season deflecting off Mustafi and past Cech. The Emirates was turning angry but then, totally against the run of play, everything changed. Hector Bellerin curled a cross along the sixyard box and, with Joe Gomez hesitating, Sanchez darted in front to head past Simon Mignolet.
Liverpool were visibly affected and, having stood off Arsenal for the first time all evening, Xhaka was allowed to shoot from 30 yards. His shot was actually aimed straight at Mignolet but its sheer power and movement deceived the Liverpool goalkeeper sufficiently for it to nestle just beneath the crossbar.
The momentum was now fully with Arsenal and a one-two between Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette then quite brilliantly dissected Liverpool, with the German applying a superb touch above Mignolet.
The match remained wide open and, having missed chances to even extend their improbable lead, Arsenal did again succumb. Emre Can found Firmino unmarked on the edge of the penalty area and, although Cech did get both hands to his shot, it squirmed high into the air behind him before dropping into an empty net. Either team might have won it in a chaotic finale, with Liverpool going closest when Salah slammed one final chance into the side-netting.