Mohamed Salah’s late strike helped Liverpool earn a point at an injury-ravaged Arsenal in their Premier League title clash on Sunday afternoon.
The returning Bukayo Saka quickly made his mark as he fired the Gunners open in the first hour, but Virgil van Dijk equalized with a corner kick.
Mikel Merino’s opener for the Gunners just before half-time had put Mikel Arteta’s side in front until the 81st minute, when Salah found space to finish and expose the hosts’ makeshift defence.
How the game developed
Arsenal received a huge boost ahead of the game as it emerged that both Saka and Jurrien Timber were out apt to appear after their recent absenceshelping negate the massive loss of William Saliba to suspension.
It was Saka who provided the game’s first moment of outstanding quality. A wonderful pass from Ben White was expertly controlled by the England winger, who left Andy Robertson scraping the turf with his turn and fired past Caoimhin Kelleher at the near post.
That goal shook Liverpool and Arne Slot, who had lost just one of their first 12 games in charge before Sunday’s meeting. However, his team showed spirit to level proceedings soon after through their great central defender.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner was met by Luis Diaz’s Flick, which allowed Van Dijk the easiest of headers to restore parity at the Emirates.
arsenal They took the lead again soon after, although Merino somehow deflected Declan Rice’s free-kick wide of the goal despite plunging enthusiastically into the delivery. Elsewhere it was Saka who looked more dangerous, teasing Robertson with his dribbling.
It was the set piece that worked for Arteta’s men when they took the lead. After the cameras panned over to their dedicated manager Nicolas Jover, Rice’s cross was passed to Merino, who made good contact this time to score his first Arsenal goal.
The hosts thought they had dealt with all their pre-match injury nightmares, but another scare came when Gabriel Magalhaes arrived on the deck needing treatment. The Brazilian could not continue and ended up being replaced by Jakub Kiwior.
Liverpool made a triple substitution after the hour and began to box Arsenal in their own half, although it did not translate into immediate chances as Ryan Gravenberch shot high and wide after a crunching tackle .
Havertz soon broke into the box and tried to beat substitute Kostas Tsimikas, but the ball eventually found its way into the grateful arms of Kelleher.
Liverpool finally mustered the killer move when Alexander-Arnold brilliantly picked out Darwin Nunez, who had the awareness to slide the ball towards Salah to finish beyond the reach of David Raya.
Timber had been forced off just minutes before the goal, with a tidy defense tasked with preventing the Reds from scoring a winner in the final 15 minutes. However, both sides stood firm with the points eventually shared after an entertaining show.
GK: David Raya – 6/10 – Made a couple of sharp saves and realistically could do little with Van Dijk’s head.
RB: Thomas Partey – 7/10 – Dropped an assured performance filling in at right-back once again, making a number of vital tackles.
CB: Ben White – 8/10 – Moved into the midfield to replace Saliba and showed his fantastic range by picking out Saka for the opener. He did very well organizing an unknown backline.
CB: Gabriel Magalhaes – 6/10 – Tangled with Núñez and carried well in the absence of Saliba. Unfortunately, he had to come off at the start of the second half.
LB: Jurrien Timber – 6/10 – A vital return to the starting line-up for the Timbers, who have been solid but Salah has had a couple of paces.
CM: Declan Rice – 7/10 – A great save was placed straight at the head of Merino to put Arsenal back in front. It offered seemingly limitless energy.
CM: Mikel Merino – 7/10 – Timed his run perfectly to nod Rice’s delivery and prevented Liverpool’s midfielders from building any rhythm.
RW: Bukayo Saka – 8/10 – He showed incredible composure at the start fire in his 50th Premier League goal. He was Arsenal’s biggest threat, although his influence waned as Liverpool took more control.
AM: Leandro Trossard – 4/10 – Didn’t have too many chances in a tight midfield and was able to test Kelleher with any shot.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – 6/10 – He had a chance to stretch his legs at half-time and asked some questions, but he didn’t always get the final ball right.
ST: Kai Havertz – 5/10 – Showed he was up to the task with an early tussle with Van Dijk but put his shots wide.
Substitutes
SUB: Jakub Kiwior (54′ for Gabriel) – 7/10 – Made some important tackles in and around his box.
SUB: Myles Lewis-Skelly (76′ for Timber) – 5/10
SUB: Gabriel Jesús (85′ by Foot) – N/10
SUB: Ethan Nwaneri (85′ for Martinelli) – N/A
Subs not used: Neto (GK), Josh Nichols, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jorginho, Raheem Sterling.
manager
Mikel Arteta – 7/10 – He came up with a plan to negate the casualties of his team and almost led to three points. However, further fitness issues at the back proved fatal to their winning hopes.
GK: Kevin Kelleher – 5/10 – Beaten by Saka’s fierce shot at the near post.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6/10 – A great corner saw Van Dijk equalize. He had struggled before picking out a brilliant pass that set the wheels in motion for Salah’s leveler.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 6/10 – Went through to shut down some Arsenal counters, but was dragged out of position a couple of times.
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 7/10 – I was in the right place at the right time to nod from Diaz’s film. He was often on hand to stop any promising Arsenal attacks.
LB: Andy Robertson – 4/10 – He looked pretty scared against Saka after getting skinned in the beginning and went out around the hour mark.
CM: Curtis Jones – 5/10 – Couldn’t silence any of Arsenal’s attacking stars like he did with Cole Palmer last week.
CM: Ryan Gravenberch – 6/10 – It was difficult to set the pace for the visitors, who all began to put constant pressure on Arsenal’s goal in the middle of the second half.
CM: Alexis McAllister – 4/10 – He ended up in the referee’s book and struggled to assert himself in the proceedings.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 8/10 – Showed great pace to get away from Timber, but seemed to be off the wavelength of his teammates at times. However, things came together because the Egyptian is on strike.
ST: Darwin Nunez – 7/10 – He kept running and got his reward as he put Salah’s shirt to make it 2-2.
LW: Luis Diaz – 6/10 – Picked up an assist with a flick on Van Dijk. However, the Colombian has made some poor runs and has not had many opportunities to show off his dribbling.
Substitutes
SUB: Cody Steel (64′ for Diaz) – 5/10
SUB: Dominik Szoboszlai (64′ for Mac Allister) – 6/10
SUB: Kostas Tsimikas (64′ for Robertson) – 6/10
SUB: Wataru Endo (91′ for Jones) – N/A
Subs not used: Harvey Davies (GK), Vitezslav Jaros (GK), Jarell Quansah, Joe Gomez, Tyler Morton.
manager
Arne Slot – 6/10 – His team fell apart a little too easily at the back at times given their previously strong defensive record. However, they took advantage of the opposition’s absences to claim a point.
