Salah and Liverpool sweep aside Gunners
liverpool 3 Matip (41), Salah pen (49), (58) arsenal 1 Torreira (85)
Liverpool opened up a three-point gap at the top of the Premier League with a win over Arsenal which highlighted why the chasing pack are still so far behind them and Manchester City.
Mohamed Salah, with a penalty and a superbly-taken individual effort, made it three for the campaign after Joel Matip’s first league goal in 11 months broke the deadlock just before half-time, with substitute Lucas Torreira scoring a consolation five minutes from the end.
The game started at a frenetic pace, with Andy Robertson fizzing a ball across the six-yard area which Roberto Firmino only narrowly missed.
Unai Emery’s tactics were to defend deep with eight men behind the ball in an attempt to draw their opponents in before trying to release the explosive pace of £72million summer signing Nicolas Pepe, given a full debut at the expense of Alexandre Lacazette.
However, a flaw in the plan was that the Gunners never looked comfortable in possession and regularly fell foul of Liverpool’s high press.
And the more Liverpool pressed, the more Arsenal were presented with opportunities, with Pepe having three chances and Pierre-emerick Aubameyang one. Reds goalkeeper Adrian came out of his area to clear but only found Aubameyang who lobbed the ball back past the far post.
Pepe’s best chance came when Jordan Henderson’s mistake on the halfway line allowed the Ivory Coast international to run past Robertson but in a one-oneone with Adrian he shot straight at the goalkeeper. It meant the game was far
more open than the statistics suggested. But the incessant pressure on Arsenal’s defence began to tell and after Salah held off Granit Xhaka to cleverly turn and fire wide, the breakthough came.
From a corner Trent Alexander-arnold finally found his range and Matip powered home a 41st-minute header.
If the interval was a period for Arsenal to clear their heads, no-one told David Luiz who, in a moment of madness
four minutes after the break, tugged on Salah’s shirt. The Egypt international confidently dispatched the penalty and added a second by brilliantly converting a three-pass move.
Lacazette, scorer of 19 goals last season and one in one match this, was not introduced until the 81st minute – and even then it was Torreira who eventually found the net, drilling home a loose ball 15 yards out.