Three positives and two negatives from Arsenal's historic win at Anfield
Fighting for their lives to get a scrappy, edge-of-your-seat 1-0 win; that elusive Anfield victory was never going to come any other way.
And Mikel Arteta would not want it any other way.
There was so much pressure on Arsenal after the Fleetwood humiliation, and the Man City slip-up vs Brighton only added to it. Throw in how Liverpool are their only real title threat – given the City legal case – and you wonder how the Gunners could possibly bounce back to record what would be a truly historic triumph.
Three positives and two negatives from Arsenal’s tense 1-0 win at Liverpool
But do it they did. The visitors proffered a perfect response by settling in right from the off and being clinical when the chance fell for them, before invoking their world-class defensive spirit to finally get over the line.
Here are three positives and two negatives to digest from what was a rare, momentous Arsenal win at Liverpool.
Positive #1: Kai Havertz scores again
Tsamina mina, eh eh… you know the rest.
Mere days after his hall-of-shame performance at Fleetwood (not that his teammates delivered too much either), Kai Havertz lived up to his enigmatic tag by netting the Arsenal winner on the road at Anfield.
He did ever so well to lose his marker and ghost in at the back post before completing the easiest of tasks to sweep home. It was his first goal in all competitions since his gameweek three strike against Chelsea way back in September and it was worth the wait.
Havertz also put in a decent shift overall despite the unforgiving nature of the match. The Gunners went long spells without the ball and offered very little service to him, though he did compete well for a few long balls which helped ease the pressure on the defence.
For all his faults, the German has a knack for scoring when it matters most and he delivered on the big occasion again here.
Negative #1: Surrendering to Liverpool pressure
You cannot be too critical of Arsenal on this point as there are no tougher grounds to visit than a trip to Anfield.
Still, though, it felt like watching the Arsenal of old after Havertz scored – minus the capitulation. The assured start gave way to a backs-against-the-wall effort during which they hardly got a touch of the ball.
When they did, they coughed it back up almost immediately and fuelled wave after wave of constant home pressure.
They did stand firm, in fairness, but the Alexis Mac Allister miss and Florian Wirtz’s strike against the crossbar suggest that it was more good fortune than expert defending which got them to half-time with their lead intact.
Of course, Liverpool will have periods of domination, but to allow the dynamics to flip so quickly and dramatically was frustrating – reminiscent of the capitulations that led to past thrashings for them in this fixture.
They lived to tell the tale here.
Positive #2: Defensive masterclass
No one does it better than Arsenal.
In slight contradiction to that last point, the initial Liverpool siege ended without a shot on target for them and the Gunners responded with a defensive masterclass in the second half to protect their 1-0 lead.
They regained a foothold around the hour mark, even getting back into the ascendency and coming close to a second goal. Christos Tzolis almost managed to pick out Martin Odegaard at one point late on while he saw a shot of his own brilliantly saved by Alisson.
Andoni Iraola’s men piled on the pressure but they never really came close to beating David Raya, who never had to make a save.
Truly remarkable stuff from a world-class defence that is making life without the imperious William Saliba look easy.
Imagine when he comes back…
Negative #2: Silly moments
The Golden Rule at Anfield: Do not do anything stupid.
Jurrien Timber did not get the memo and was lucky not to be punished in the first half for a foul on Alexander Isak.
His shirt pull should have resulted in a spot kick – Arsenal have a habit of giving away penalties in big games – but neither Andy Madley nor Stuart Atwell on VAR gave it. The calm reaction from Isak may have helped Timber to escape punishment.
Then, Noni Madueke sailed close to the wind when he squared up to Mac Allister and went close to headbutt territory. Ultimately, there was nothing in it so he was correctly spared further punishment but it was still needless and unwise to get involved.
Days on from the Max Dowman drama and all the talk of ‘the young man needs to grow up’, here it was the experienced heads who almost cost Arsenal.
Positive #3: Anfield drought is over
14 years is a looooong time and Arsenal fans have suffered plenty of Anfield heartbreak during that time.
A few 5-1 defeats, a couple more 4-0 losses and the odd last-minute dagger have inflicted huge pain on the Gunners since they last won on this ground back in August 2012. Do not even mention the 5-5 Carabao Cup match…
And that period from minutes 20-55 on Sunday night suggested this match might indeed go the same way.
Instead, Arsenal showed the sort of resilience that brought them title glory last year and saw Arteta claim his first-ever win here. Quite deserved too as, despite the Liverpool pressure, they never went close to equalising late on.
This result is exactly what their hard work merited and it means Arsenal are now three points clear at the top.
Mikel Arteta, you have changed our lives.
