The Observer - 25.08.2019

• The Observer
  6 25.08.19 Football

Premier League

Salah turns on

style to leave

David Luiz

fl oundering

Egyptian punishes visitors’ defensive lapses with

sparkling second-half brace to maintain his side’s

perfect start to the season and leave Emery glum

In the context of Arsenal’s lamenta-

ble record in this stadium this was

actually an improved performance,

whatever the scoreline might sug-

gest. They were worn down in the

end by a Liverpool side that started

ponderously but eventually found

their rhythm and confi dence, with

Mohamed Salah enjoying one of his

most effective games for a while,

though until David Luiz went into

malfunction mode there was little to

choose between the two teams at the

top of the Premier League table.

If Liverpool are now the only side

with a 100% record, Arsenal did

enough to suggest that once

their new signings settle in they

should be a force. It is debatable

whether a couple of expensive

errors by David Luiz can be fi led

under “settling in”, for this was a

display to justify all the doubts

raised by those who questioned

whether the Gunners defence really

needs such a loose cannon at its heart.

While it would be harsh to state that

David Luiz cost Arsenal this game, he

blighted their chances of a comeback.

Liverpool’s strategy was clear from

the outset : they kept switching the

ball from left to right in the hope

that either Andy Robertson or Trent

Alexander-Arnold could get behind

Arsenal’s defence. Robertson almost

found Roberto Firmino in front of

goal with a fi rmly driven cross -shot in

the fi rst couple of minutes but while

both full-backs saw plenty of the ball

the delivery was not quite up to the

usual standard. Alexander-Arnold

was wasteful in the fi rst half, and after

surviving the expected pounding in

the fi rst 15 minutes Arsenal began to

grow in confi dence.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could

have opened the scoring when a mix-

up between Adri án and Virgil van Dijk

saw the goalkeeper’s attempted clear-

ance land at his feet, but his looping

attempt drifted narrowly wide of an

unguarded net. Then Nicolas P ép é,

his fi rst start for Arsenal already dec-

orated by an alert spin to wrongfoot

the normally unfl appable Van Dijk,

brought the fi rst real save of the game

from Adri án, albeit a routine one from

a shot that lacked venom.

This was a much better start than

Arsenal usually make at Anfi eld, with

the visitors managing to live up to

J ürgen Klopp’s extravagant pre-match

billing : t he Liverpool manager said

it was silly to brand the Premier

League as a two-horse race when

a team of such quality is on

the rise under a manager as

capable as Unai Emery.

This might have come

as news to many

Arsenal support-

ers, though Klopp

was also correct in predicting that

P ép é’s pace would cause Liverpool

problems. The new signing shot

fractionally wide after getting on the

end of a move that saw Joe Willock

whisk past Alexander-Arnold as if

the defender was not there, and two

minutes later his pace left Robertson

chasing shadows too, the winger put-

ting a tame shot too close to Adri án.

So although it was no sur-

prise when Liverpool took

the lead from a set-piece

five minutes before the

interval, it was perhaps

against the run of play. Sadio Man é

had brought a save from Bernd Leno

and Salah had shot the wrong side

of an upright, but Liverpool were

not exactly pummelling their oppo-

nents when Alexander-Arnold swung

over a corner that Jo ël Matip headed

in from six yard s. Replays supported

Matt éo Guendouzi’s argument that

Liverpool players had in effect held

him in a headlock, yet there was no

VAR inquest despite the fact that sev-

eral minutes had been wasted at the

preceding corner in checking whether

an alleged Nacho Monreal offence

was worthy of a red card. By half -time

corners were becoming a problem

for Arsenal, with Alexander-Arnold’s

crossing of a dead ball as accurate as

ever. On the stroke of the interval he

picked out an unmarked Man é, who

beat the ground in frustration after

sending a free header over the bar.

Arsenal needed to score fi rst in the

second half to make a game of it, or

at least keep Liverpool at bay for as

long as possible, yet they managed to

self-destruct just two minutes after

the restart. When Alexander-Arnold

slipped a pass through to Salah in the

Liverpool

defender Joel

Matip leaps into

the air at Anfi eld

after breaking

the deadlock

against Arsenal

PETER POWELL/EPA

 Liverpool

striker Mohamed

Salah netted two

second-half goals

to end Arsenal’s

challenge at

Anfi eld

3

LIVERPOOL

Matip 41, Salah 49pen 58

1

ARSENAL

Torreira 85

Paul Wilson

Anfi eld

Liverpool are the only

side with a 100% record

but Arsenal suggested that

they should be a force

P W D L F A GD Pts

Liverpool 3 3 0 0 9 3 +6 9

Arsenal 3 2 0 1 4 4 0 6

Leicester 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 5

Man City 2 1 1 0 7 2 +5 4

Man Utd 3 1 1 1 6 3 +3 4

Tottenham 2 1 1 0 5 3 +2 4

Brighton 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 4

Bournemouth 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 4

Sheff Utd 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4

Top of the table

53% Possession 47%

4 Shots on Target 3

24 Total Attempts 9