Arsenal Beats Liverpool: Now 5 Points Ahead on Top of the Table

Arsenal has beaten Liverpool 2-0 this Saturday at the Emirates Stadium thanks to goals by Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey. This performance takes the gunners five points ahead of Chelsea who lost 2-0 to Newcastle earlier. Arsene Wenger’s men haven’t lost in the Premier League since the opening game of the season against Aston Villa.

This game was three days after Arsenal were knocked out of the Capital One Cup after their 2-0 defeat to Chelsea. Prior to this game, Liverpool had only lost one game in the Premier League at home to Southampton. Arsenal started the game stronger and was rewarded at the 19th minute with a goal by Santi Cazorla. The Spaniard followed up with a fantastic volley to beat Liverpool’s goalkeeper Simon Mignolet after his header hit the post.

Liverpool struggled to get a good passing rhythm and didn’t really look dangerous in the first 20 minutes. Their two strikers Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez didn’t have enough support from midfielders Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson to be able to create chances. Despite Liverpool’s strong finish of the half, Arsenal was able to hold on and went to the break with the lead.

The second half started with Philippe Coutinho replacing Aly Cissokho changing Liverpool’s formation from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2. Coutinho’s entrance brought more creativity to a Liverpool team that desperately needed it but Arsenal remained very organized in defense and was able to keep the ”clean sheet”. Mikel Arteta was extremely disciplined in his holding midfielder role and did an excellent job protecting the back four.

Arsenal got a second goal at he 59th minute with a wonderful outside foot strike by Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey. Ramsey’s goal came at a moment when Liverpool were pushing for an equalizer and had the momentum. After their second goal, the Gunners decided to sit deep and try to hit Liverpool on the counter attack. Liverpool kept pushing to come back but Brendan Rodgers‘ men were not clinical enough in front of goal.

Arsenal have made a big statement with this win over Liverpool three days before a difficult trip to Germany to play Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday in the Champion’s League. Their clash against defending champions Manchester United next week will be another big test for them. If there was any need to prove to everyone that they were serious title contenders, Arsene Wenger’s men have brilliantly done it.