LONDON : If Liverpool are to successfully defend their Premier League title, they will look back on the moment when Dominik Szoboszlai sank Arsenal with a late and showstopping free-kick as a foundation stone.
There had been little between these teams, the only ones with 100% records at kick-off; pragmatism held sway for long spells. Or maybe it was the fear of defeat. Nobody wanted to countenance that, however early in the season this fixture came.
Would Arsenal have taken a fourth Anfield draw in a row beforehand? The answer was probably yes and it appeared that Mikel Arteta had placed the emphasis on being difficult to beat, first and foremost. He loaded his lineup with physicality, playing Mikel Merino in the No 10 role rather than Martin Ødegaard, who was not fully fit. Or Eberechi Eze, the new signing, who was also among the substitutes. Which was a surprise.
Arteta knew it would be tight; he wanted it to be that way – for his team to retain a puncher’s chance. Perhaps they could nick something from a set piece? He did not subscribe to the notion of fortune favouring the brave. In the end, Arteta got nothing, he and his players floored by what Szoboszlai produced with seven minutes of regulation time remaining.
The free-kick was 30 yards out but Szoboszlai made light of the distance with a stunning execution up and over the wall, the technique generating vicious dip and fade, leaving David Raya clutching at thin air. Szoboszlai brought precision to the party, too, placing the ball perfectly inside the goalkeeper’s right-hand post.
It is August yet it was easy to see this as a marker from Liverpool; a declaration of intent. This is before they make their final moves in a blockbuster transfer window, in which they could still add Alexander Isak and Marc Guéhi and push their spending towards £500m.
Arsenal were the better team in the first half, even if they created little. Neither team did across the piece. It was that kind of contest. But Liverpool rallied in the second period, the Kop making themselves heard and if one team was going to score, it felt as though it would be them.
Szoboszlai, who stood in at right-back for the injured Jeremie Frimpong, ensured it was a goal to remember. Thanks to Manchester City’s defeat at Brighton earlier in the day, Liverpool have a bit of daylight between themselves and both their principal rivals.
Arsenal had to go back to September 2012 for their previous league win at Anfield; Arteta was a player for them that day as goals from Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla secured a 2-0 victory. Arteta’s plan on this occasion was to be solid; to stop Liverpool from playing. To that end, it was a blow to lose William Saliba to an ankle injury in the early running. Injuries would be a theme of the day. Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konaté and Florian Wirtz also hobbled off.
It was tense. Arsenal could feel their hearts thump when they tried to work their play-out-from‑the‑back patterns. Yet they got them to click in the initial exchanges; a sign of the personality that Arteta wanted to see. Martín Zubimendi was prominent. Arsenal’s aggressive press, meanwhile, was a feature. Liverpool had a few nervy moments as they attempted to build from their defensive third.
It was possible to wonder whether a loose pass out and a turnover forced in a dangerous area would be decisive. The odds in the first half appeared to point towards Arsenal making something happen in this regard. Yet it was Liverpool who had the big moment on 34 minutes when Raya erred and Virgil van Dijk outmuscled Zubimendi. The Liverpool captain had a shooting opportunity only to look for Mohamed Salah and a pass that was not there.
The creative quality was absent. Arteta’s team searched for Noni Madueke on the right; it was clear he had the pace to trouble Milos Kerkez. Twice in the first half Madueke almost got the better of his man. Kerkez, though, made last-ditch interventions. Madueke also worked Alisson after a corner broke for him.
Liverpool had to free themselves from Arsenal’s headlock in the second half and they did so. They took higher starting positions. They brought greater intensity. Arne Slot was able to play Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch together in midfield for the first time this season and the latter came to flicker. At the back, Konaté bullied Viktor Gyökeres, giving him nothing. It was a mismatch; a painful one from an Arsenal point of view.
Mac Allister fizzed a pass up to Wirtz, whose low shot Raya found too hot to handle. He spilled it to Cody Gakpo and then cleaned him out; an obvious penalty. Except that Gakpo was offside. The ball deflected in off Saliba’s replacement, Cristhian Mosquera, but it would not count.
Arteta introduced Ødegaard and Eze for Merino and Gabriel Martinelli in the 70th minute and, by that point, the tide had turned, Liverpool pushing. Arsenal’s priority was their defensive shape. Declan Rice blocked a Salah shot after good work from Wirtz before Szoboszlai assumed centre stage.
Courtesy: theguardian
