What a super duper Sunday I must confess ! I had a splendid Sunday night knowing at the back of my mind the Gunners secured a convincing victory over the almighty Reds that never walk alone . Before the match kicked off , I was skeptical about Arsenal getting a victory from this match . It will be in the Emirates so at least Arsenal should get a draw I thought to myself if the worst happens . A defeat will outrighthly deal a real blow to any hopes of gunning for the title .
Going into the match , Liverpool sat on top of the Epl table leading the Gunners with 5 points who were 3rd on the log . I'm certain most Reds fans and neutral fans won't give Arsenal a chance of coming out with a victory. Considering the fact that Liverpool pummled Chelsea in the midweek the blazing guns the Reds came with into the Emirates might be tought to handle .
The Gunners on the other hand had other ideas as the opposite seemed to be the case . As soon as the whistle blew for the kickoff the Gunners wouldn't just stop spreading their tentacles all over the pitch gaining full control and dominance of the game.
It wasn't long for their intense pressing gameplay to result into a goal in the 14th minute. A sublime lobbed through pass from Martin Odeegard was enough to break the Liverpool solid defense. The pass found Kai Havertz who unfortunately couldn't beat Alisson from a one time shot which inturn led to a rebound for Bukayo Saka to smash it home .
Football is indeed a beautiful game , one moment you're boasting about your team's prowress the next minute you're throwing tantrums about a lackluster performance from them . This was actually me when Liverpool grabbed an equalizer in the added minutes of the first half . The lack of communication between Raya and Saliba gave room for Luiz Diaz to pounce on the ball which then led to a Gabriel own goal . Half time scores , one goal a piece.
During the halftime break my friend who is a Liverpool fan was surely confident Liverpool will come into the second half with a better display and wrap things up with a deserved victory . He claimed with the late first half goal the Reds scored will give his boys enough momentum to see the game through in the coming second half. I didn’t flinch because the Gunners performance in the first half was pretty solid if not for the avoidable mistake in the tail end of the first half . I knew the Gunners will come back into the second half with a much pretty decent performance.
I can bet most rival fans and of course Liverpool fans laughed and made jest of the Gunners defense after Gabriel's own goal in the first half. That being said I know you're quite aware of the saying "who laughs last , laughs best". This of course came to reality in the match. Blunders from both Alisson and VVD provided Martinelli with an icing on the cake type of goal in the 67th minute making the scores 2-1 in favor of the Gunners .
Now that the Gunners were conveniently on the driver's sit one could smell a victory cooking for Arsenal. Leandro Trossard who has a knack for scoring goals against Liverpool especially at his time at Brighton came on as a substitute in place of Martinelli later in the second half . He marked his presence in the match with a solid solo performance. He beat two Liverpool players at quick succesion and then fired a low shot in between Alison's legs to score the third goal for Arsenal in the 90+3rd minute. Final scores 3-1 in favor of the Gunners .
While Arsenal's performance over 23 games may suggest they are in contention, it's important to remember that consistency and resilience are key in the Premier League. While being closer to the top than further behind is certainly advantageous, it's premature to crown them as title contenders based solely on this. Manchester City and Liverpool's sustained excellence makes the journey ahead challenging.
Albeit, Arsenal's position is promising, the boys should not get ahead of themselves just yet . There's still a long road ahead at seriously contending for the title. For now they should work harder on their consistency, resiliency, responsiblity and grinding out desired and necessary results . There's certainly no room for complacency henceforth if they really want to get a silverware this season.