Arsenal vs Liverpool LIVE: Premier League result and reaction as Mo Salah rescues a point
Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool: The points are shared at the Emirates after Salah scores a late equaliser
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Arsenal drew 2-2 with Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday night in a tense clash at the top of the Premier League.
The Gunners made the perfect start to a vitally important match as Bukayo Saka latched on to Ben White’s long ball before cutting inside Andy Robertson and rifling a high effort past Kelleher at the near post.
Liverpool were soon back on level terms as Virgil van Dijk nodded in from Alexander-Arnold’s set-piece, but from there Arsenal dominated the rest of the opening 45 minutes, and were ahead once more as Mikel Merino powered a header in from Declan rice’s free-kick.
The second half started with bad news for Arsenal, as Gabriel was forced off with injury. It was then the away side’s turn to dominate, and their attacking paid off as Alexander-Arnold played a lovely pass into the path of Darwin Nunez, who squared it to Mohamed Salah to net the equaliser.
That goal set up a tense finish in north London, and the spoils were shared after an intriguing early season match-up at the top of the table.
Follow all the action from the Emirates with our live blog below:
Manchester United’s obvious and embarrassing truth could spell the end of Erik ten Hag
There was a time when Manchester United came to West Ham, Wayne Rooney took aim from 57 yards and scored. Many a comparison with the past can damn this United side but, a decade on, Diogo Dalot came to West Ham, took aim at an unguarded goal from eight yards and missed. Whether it was excruciating or merely amusing depends on your perspective, but it was costly, summing up Manchester United’s self-destructive streak.
They contrived to lose a game in which they had been absurdly, astonishingly dominant before the break. Dalot was the worst offender but not the only one. “I collected six or seven 100 percent chances we should have scored,” said Erik Ten Hag. “But in football the best team does not always win.” And United’s finest half of the season still led to a fourth defeat.
For Julen Lopetegui, it was a lifeline, much the best result of his inglorious reign. Shocking and shambolic for 45 minutes, West Ham nevertheless beat the other United. Reprieved by a host of first-half misses, they pilfered victory in the second. To compound Dalot’s difficulties, it was his immediate opponent, Crysencio Summerville, who scored one of the goals that may save the Hammers manager’s job. The other, Jarrod Bowen’s penalty, awarded via the intervention of VAR and against Matthijs de Ligt, leaves the other United 14th.
Man United’s obvious and embarrassing truth could spell the end of Erik ten Hag
West Ham 2-1 Man Utd: Ten Hag’s men fail to capitalise in front of goal as Crysencio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen secured the points for the hosts
Man City milestone arrives with an air of inevitability – and a lead of the Premier League table
There is a case for calling this Russell Martin’s best result as a Premier League manager. Which, if true, means an achievement is also an indictment. But what threatened to be the biggest mismatch in the division was decided by a lone goal. Southampton left the Etihad Stadium unbloodied but with one point to show from their nine games. Manchester City departed top of the league.
Much as the scoreline suggested Southampton surpassed expectations, there was still a predictability. A home match against a lesser side can come with the guarantee of a City win, the near-guarantee of an Erling Haaland goal. The surprise may be that the Norwegian got only one. Haaland has had an intriguing week, scoring one of his most remarkable goals, with his spectacular volley against Sparta Prague, but missing several simpler chances. He has three goals to show for two games at the Etihad Stadium but could have had hat-tricks in each.
He has not been clinical but, on Wednesday, Pep Guardiola noted one of the idiosyncratic features of Haaland’s game. If the Norwegian has very few touches, a very high percentage of them can be shots. Even as Southampton sought to crowd him out, with three centre-backs in a packed penalty area, as Haaland had only 20 touches, eight of them were goal attempts.
Man City milestone arrives with inevitability - and the lead of the Premier League
Man City 1-0 Southampton: Erling Haaland scored early to send City top of the table
Reaction on Sky
An interesting few sentences from Jamie Carragher, who compares Arteta to Jose Mourinho rather than Pep Guardiola.
“This idea that he’s like Pep Guardiola, he’s not” he says.
Carragher emphasises Arsenal’s defensive solidity rather than their attacking prowess, and questions whether Arteta has though that he needs the “best defensive record” in order to win the league.
More from Arteta
“We’re clear what we have to do, the quality that we showed, the determination.
“It was really good, but there were a few moments where we could have put the ball into the net.
“We needed more courage to play,” he adds.
Regarding injuries, he says that “I don’t know what happened”, while Martin Odegaard “is still a bit far”.
“We’re going to try our best and again, I think that the character – the way we play – was unbelievable.”
Arteta speaks to Sky
Mikel Arteta says that he is “very proud of the team, for different reasons”. “The quality, the domination, the game that we wanted to play.
“Big chances, then it’s true that we have to make changes, they came out and we didn’t have the courage to play in the first phases like we should have done.
“I think we deserved to win the game, i think we were the better team, but we didn’t [win].”
More from Slot
Slot adds that “the players that came in gave us some new energy. To keep going and keep fighting for a result, that was what pleased me the most”.
“In general, it’s not weird if one team is up, one team is pushing a bit more.
“After having one day less to recover, to come out and have so much energy to get the equaliser [is pleasing].“
“What surprises me is that people say we have an easy start. There is no easy game in the Premier League.
“We faced moe than a few teams that are bottom, and we faced two top clubs, Manchester United and Chelsea, and another today in Arsenal.
“It’s good to see where we are at this moment in time, not only with results but with the way we play.”
Slot speaks to Sky
Arne Slot calls the match “eventful” and “exciting”.
“In my opinion Arsenal [are the] first team better than us. If you look at the first half they deserved to be one up.
“We had one day less to preaprare, one day less to recover. Being twice down in this stadium and to still get a point is a good thing.
“It’s a good thing, if you play against Arsenal you normally lose the battle of set-pieces, but we both scored one.
“I wasn’t surprised that we scored an equaliser in the second half, put it that way.”
Saka speaks to Sky
Saka is awarded man of the match for today, though he says he’s “a bit disappointed”.
“Credit to Liverpool but we feel like we didn’t show our best for the full 90 minutes.
“I think first half we showed our qualities, we dominated. But second half, we sunk back a bit, and weren’t at our best.
“I feel maybe Liverpool had more momentum, they won more duels and kept possession more.
“We have to adapt, we have to do our best,” he adds.
On his injury, he adds: “I hate missing games, it was frustrating to be on the side watching. I was happy to be back out there today.
“I’m feeling good.”
Van Dijk speaks to Sky
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk says that Liverpool are happy to take the point tonight.
“Listen, it’s a very tough place to come. They created a solid team and make it difficult for everyone. To come back twice is a good thing, we take the point and we move.”
“They’re very solid in set pieces and I think when I was marked by Partey, he only looked at me. It was a good flick from Lucho [Diaz]. I try to just be important in every set piece that we have and to not concede like we did so that’s very disappointing.”
“[When] you play here in London, they have the fans behind them and they created some momentum. You have to be ready to fight because you will have some tough moments. One point and we take it.”
When pressed on why they conceded, he said: “In my opinion, the first half, we couldn’t keep the ball. If we kept the ball longer we could’ve created a bit more momentum.
“Second half, we didn’t create loads of chances, but we were much more dominant,” he adds.
On his contract situation, he says: “I’m very calm, let’s see what happens at the end of the season.
“I’m enjoying my football, I’m feeling good physically and mentally. I want to keep enjoying the game, it’s a beautiful game that we play.”
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