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Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video
Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool felt very much like a microcosm of Arsenal’s season so far: Some optimism, more Bukayo brilliance, a set-back, impressive resilience, more injury issues, a smattering of officiating controversy, and a result which isn’t necessarily bad but one which is tinged with disappointment because it might/should have been more positive.
It started well, with Saka and Jurrien Timber in the team, we looked decent on paper. The fact the Dutchman was deployed at left-back might say something about how Mikel Arteta feels about Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko, but in isolation there was some logic in putting such a solid one-on-one defender against the quality of Mo Salah.
Ben White’s excellent long ball sent Saka free behind the Liverpool defence, he cut back inside Andy Robertson and slammed the ball beyond Caoimhin Kelleher at his near post. Just ruthless efficiency in the final third from a player who has, to my mind anyway, gone up a level this season. It’s not the exact same goal, but the quality and precision of the touches which rendered the defender useless reminded me just a bit of Dennis Bergkamp’s World Cup strike against Argentina.
The game was pretty even at that point. Liverpool got back into it from a corner. Smart movement from Luis Diaz saw him flick the ball on and Virgil van Dijk was first to it, heading home from close range to make it 1-1. I thought the way we responded was excellent though, and after that equaliser we dominated the game. 5 shots to Liverpool’s 0. Mikel Merino should have scored from a great Declan Rice free kick, and worryingly seemed to hurt his shoulder again but he carried on after some treatment.
There were nearly moments when half chances might have transpired, but there was no doubt we were on top. Late in the half, another Rice free kick saw Merino head home from close range to make it 2-1. The delivery was excellent,…
Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/10/arsenal-2-2-liverpool-a-draw-that-sums-up-our-season-so-far/
Author : arseblog
Publish date : 2024-10-28 07:13:54
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