Arsenal finally end Anfield drought

Arsenal claimed their first victory at Anfield in 14 years as they move clear at the top of the Premier League.
Manchester City’s defeat at the hands of Brighton on Saturday handed Arsenal the opportunity to become Premier League leaders again, and they did not squander the chance.

They started far the better on the night, and it did not take long for them to break the deadlock, after Kai Havertz tapped home a delightful first-time cross from Declan Rice.

But after the opener, it was heart in mouth for Arsenal until the end of the first half. Liverpool wasted several opportunities to go level, with David Raya denying Alexander Isak from close range and being denied two penalty claims by referee Andy Madley, before Florian Wirtz struck the bar from a dead-ball situation. Liverpool had lost some momentum by the start of the second half, and Arsenal became significantly more rigid, leaving Liverpool with fewer opportunities to find an equaliser.

Myles Lewis-Skelly was brought on an hour into the game, providing Arsenal with an injection of energy in midfield they had been missing. Arsenal ultimately came the closest to scoring in the second half, with a low fizzing effort from Christos Tzolis drawing a superb save from Alisson. In the end, an early strike from Havertz was enough for Arsenal to reign supreme at Anfield once again, in an afternoon many Arsenal fans will probably not want to relive.

The result leaves Liverpool in fifth and now nine points behind league leaders Arsenal.

VAR must do better, or else we will question why the technology exists in the first place

The game was not without drama, with several key decisions by the referee and VAR coming into question. First, Trey Nyoni was incredibly lucky not to have seen red after the first 10 minutes, with two blatant yellow card offences being looked the other way by Madley. The first offence was a particularly bad scrape on the back of Martin Odegaard’s ankle, almost befitting of an ‘orange’ card. He was probably just about saved by the clock, with Madley wanting to not spoil a match with ramifications as large as this one.
The other major talking point of the game has been the decision not to award Liverpool a penalty around the 20th minute mark. After a lovely cross from Bradley Barcola, Isak was unable to meet the ball, and replays showed that Jurrien Timber had pulled his shirt back, just enough to have probably stopped him from heading the ball.

Quite understandably, there has been furore over a lack of VAR intervention into what was a pretty unsubtle attempt at preventing Isak from having a shot on goal. Many have argued that Isak would have won the spot kick had he thrown himself down, and in truth that is probably the case. But it should not be.

There is no appeals system in football unlike cricket, nor should there be one. We have technology in the game to catch these errors, and VAR must do better, or else we will question why the technology exists in the first place.

With Manchester City awaiting a potential relegation condemnation, it is most definitely Arsenal’s to lose

That was the type of result where you can see what title winning sides are truly made of. Whilst Arsenal are far from perfect offensively, they have more than enough everywhere else to retain their champions status. It might only be three points now, but with Manchester City awaiting a potential relegation condemnation, it is most definitely Arsenal’s to lose.