Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla netted as
Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield on Sunday.
Daniel Agger returned to the Liverpool
line-up after serving a one game suspension against Manchester City last week.
Meanwhile, Nuri Sahin debuted in absence of Lucas Leiva, whose injury sustained
last week will keep him out of action for 2-3 months.
Play got underway and Fabio Borini was
first to threaten the Arsenal goal. The Italian drove forward at the defence
and shot, but his tamed effort dragged past the post.
Per Mertesacker was then caught out as Luis
Suarez knocked the ball past him, the German defender hauled him to the ground
in a desperate attempt to win the ball. The Uruguayan stood over the free kick.
However, he could not recreate last week’s heroics as his shot flashed over the
bar.
It was Arsenal’s turn to threaten down the
other end. Cazorla managed to get a shot away on the edge of a crowded penalty
area, but Reina was equal to it.
The visitors began to settle after a slow
start. They kept the larger share of possession in a period of dominance that
saw Liverpool give the ball away far too easily.
Winger Raheem Sterling managed to intercept
a loose Mertesacker pass and charged towards goal. But Arteta brought the
17-year-old down before he could pick out a teammate in front of goal.
Suarez, Sahin and Gerrard stood over the
free kick. Suarez rolled the ball to Gerrard to strike, but the wall closed
down in time and blocked the effort.
In the 38th minute Arsenal were
ahead through Lukas Podolski. Cazorla slipped in Podolski behind the defence
after a quick counter attack. The German striker didn’t hesitate and smartly
finished into the bottom corner.
The hosts almost replied instantly through
Raheem Sterling. Borini stretched and managed to keep a deep cross in play. The
‘keeper hesitated and the clearance only fell as far to Gerrard on the edge of
the area, the captain softly headed to Sterling and made a run to the right as
a decoy leaving Raheem to spin onto his left. Sterling’s audacious effort from
an acute angle left Vito Mannone rooted as it struck off the outside of the
post.
Olivier Giroud was presented with a chance
to extend Arsenal’s lead to two on the stroke of half time. Arsenal cut through
Liverpool’s defence with another electric counter attack. Diaby broke clear and
fed the ball to Giroud’s feet, however, the Frenchman’s effort from close range
spewed off target and into the Kop.
Liverpool threatened minutes after the
break. Gerrard rolled the ball across the face of goal; Suarez was arriving to
steer home, but was pushed to the floor by Mertesacker. The crowd roared for a
penalty as Howard Webb waived away claims.
Without
much of a goal threat on the bench after Liverpool’s disastrous deadline day
dealings, Stewart Downing entered in place of Fabio Borini. The winger
back-heeled to find Luis Suarez on the edge of the box. But, Mannone
comfortably helped the Uruguayan’s powerful effort over the bar.
A tough task got tougher in the 68th
minute. Cazorla exchanged passes with Giroud on the edge of the area and
charged towards goal. The Spaniard struck a powerful effort towards goal that
crept under Reina’s defences as he helplessly tried to keep it out.
Jonjo Shelvey came close to spark a late
comeback, his long distance drive was gloved away by the ‘keeper.
But in the end Arsenal held on to a
comfortable win.
Sikander Najib
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