At times the image seemed accelerated, with the match taking place at a higher speed than normal. Liverpool and Arsenal did not slow down the revolutions at Anfield for a minute. Without truce. To an open grave. A missed pass was only an incentive to desperately search for a ball recovery. There was no speculation. Neither do the frills. Verticality and vertigo, inseparable characteristics of the Premier, prevailed in a duel where the Gunners maintained the lead thanks to the final draw (1-1).
Arteta's men jumped onto the pitch knowing that in red territory it is not worth going out at half throttle. A second of relaxation, a blink, can be very expensive. With the lesson learned, those from north London pounced on the rival goal as soon as the ball started rolling. Gabriel Jesus signed two notices in the blink of an eye. On the third, in a lateral foul, Gabriel, this time the center back, opened the scoring with a header. Gakpo, starting at the expense of Núñez, broke the offside by a sigh.
The goal did not affect the morale of Liverpool, who immediately turned on their machinery. Arrivals in droves on the rival area, but without clarity in the definition. The ghost of the match against Manchester United lurked for the locals, denied in the shot against the Red Devils, until Salah provided light.
The Egyptian sent a first ball into the side of the net. He later claimed a handball from Odegaard in the area that neither the referee, Chris Kavanagh, nor the VAR considered punishable. The pharaoh did not lose focus and on the stroke of half an hour, after a quarterback pass from Alexander-Arnold, he equalized with his classic play: a trademark cut to Zinchenko and a left-footed shot to the near post to beat Raya. Arsenal responded with a transition where Saka, who ran out of space in the one-on-one with Alisson, and Martinelli, almost into an empty goal, wasted the opportunity to go into the break with an advantage.
After the restart, the high pressure from Klopp's team was suffocating. Getting out of their area became an impossible mission for the Gunners, who feared the worst in a poisoned shot by Joe Gomez, entered by the injured Tsimikas. Little by little, Arsenal avoided the Reds' ambushes by carefully trying to get the ball, but they were unable to break down the wall built by the centre-backs, especially Konaté.
Despite Díaz's injury, Liverpool came much closer, just a few centimeters away, to tipping the balance. Elliott shot the post, after touching the ball to Gabriel, and then, in a counterattack caused by a comical clash between Odegaard and Zinchenko, Alexander-Arnold hit the woodwork again with everything in his favor. It was the last train to Liverpool's lead before the referee whistled the end of another tribute to football at Anfield.
For its part, Manchester United returned to its old ways. After a creditable draw against Liverpool last day, they lost yesterday in London against West Ham (0-2). The goals from Bowen and Kudus further complicated Ten Hag's future on the Red Devils bench.
Liverpool: Alisson; Trent Alexander Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil Van Dijk, Kostas Tsimikas (Joe Gomez, m.35); Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones (Ryan Gravenberch, m.68); Mohamed Salah, Luis Díaz (Harvey Elliot, m.69) and Cody Gakpo (Darwin Núñez, m.68).
Arsenal: David Stripe; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli (Leandro Trossard, 68) and Gabriel Jesus (Eddie Nketiah, 77).
Goals: 0-1, m.4:: Gabriel Magalhaes; 1-1, m.29: Mohamed Salah;
Referee: Chis Kanavagh. He showed yellow cards to Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Declan Rice, Eddie Nketiah and Ben White and Liverpool's Wataru Endo and Mohamed Sala.
Incidents: match on the eighteenth day of the Premier League played at the Anfield stadium in front of around 57,000 spectators.
