Arsenal moved two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool as they claimed a well-deserved 3-1 win at Emirates Stadium thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.
Liverpool were second best for large parts of the contest and their only goal came from Gabriel, who put the ball into his own net, as they suffer only their second league defeat of the season, and their first since September.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +62 | 89 |
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +45 | 82 |
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +15 | 68 |
| 5 |
Spurs
TOT
|
38 | +13 | 66 |
How the match unfolded
Arsenal made two changes from their win against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, with Jorginho and Kai Havertz replacing Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Jesus, who was ruled out due to a knee injury sustained in training.
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As for Liverpool, Trent Alexander-Arnold came in for his first start since 7 January while Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo started in place of Dominik Szoboszlai and Darwin Nunez, with the former missing out entirely because of a hamstring injury. Thiago Alcantara was named among the substitute, returning to a matchday squad for the first time in 10 months.
In a blistering start to the match, both sides had chances to open the scoring as Saka failed to get enough contact to head the ball in from close range while Gakpo shot narrowly wide from the edge of the box.
Arsenal were the more threatening side, though, and they claimed a deserved lead in the 14th minute when Havertz’s initial shot was saved by Alisson, but the ball broke to Saka, who converted from close range for his eighth Premier League goal of the season.
The hosts had a few more chances to add a second goal, with Alisson saving Gabriel’s long-range shot before Ibrahima Konate produced a last-ditch block to deny Martinelli.
Against the run of play, Liverpool drew level in the third minute of first-half stoppage time as William Saliba's indecisiveness allowed Luis Diaz to pass across goal, with the ball inadvertently hitting Gabriel before rolling into the net.
Liverpool have now scored in each of their last 17 Premier League matches against Arsenal, the longest ever run by a team facing the Gunners in the competition.
That strike gave Liverpool confidence and they kept Arsenal pegged back early in the second half, with Curtis Jones shooting wide.
With the contest evenly balanced, Arsenal reclaimed the lead on 67 minutes when a big mix-up between Alisson and Virgil van Dijk allowed Martinelli to put the ball into an empty net.
The Brazilian has now scored five goals against Liverpool, his joint-most against a single side for Arsenal.
Liverpool's misery was compounded with two minutes remaining when Konate was shown a second yellow card after bringing down Havertz.
Arsenal sealed the victory in the second minute of stoppage time through substitute Trossard, who broke down the left before squeezing a shot through Alisson's legs from a tight angle.
It's only Liverpool's second Premier League defeat in their last 34 matches, with both losses coming in north London – the first of which was a 2-1 reverse at Tottenham Hotspur in September.
Arsenal report | Liverpool report
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Key facts
Arsenal have won two of their four Premier League games against teams starting the day top of the table under Mikel Arteta (L2 – both wins against Liverpool), as many victories as they had in their previous 17 such matches prior to the Spaniard’s arrival (D4 L11).
Saka is one of only two Premier League players with more than 10+ goals and 10+ assists across all competitions this season (11 goals, 12 assists), along with Nunez.
Arsenal have opened the scoring in four straight league matches against Liverpool for the first time since between August 1967 and November 1970 (a run of six). Indeed, Arsenal are the team with the most goals scored in the opening 15 minutes of Premier League contests against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool (6).
Gabriel scored the first own goal in this Premier League fixture (Arsenal v Liverpool) since March 2012, when Laurent Koscielny also put through his own net for Arsenal.