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MOTD- Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool

By on November 2, 2013
Arsenal celebrate Aaron Ramsey's beautiful winner for the home side

Arsenal celebrate Aaron Ramsey’s beautiful winner for the home side

Arsenal outdid Liverpool at the Emirates in a 2-0 win that extends the Gunner’s lead at the top of the Premier League table to five points.  It was a kind of performance that made you think Arsenal have turned into serious title contenders coming into their first run of tough matches this season.  Arsene Wenger’s side will face Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United and Southampton in their next three matches, yet they have a decent shot at winning all three if they produce the form they were in today.  Seven shots on target produced two fabulous goals for the home side, while Liverpool only managed four shots on goal.

All of Arsenal’s players did their jobs excellently, but the opening minutes were a bit to chaotic for Wenger’s liking, although the managed was visibly pleased with his side’s work after they nearly took the lead in the fifth minute.  Tomas Rosicky played a neat one-two with Santi Cazorla to send him in down the left side of the Liverpool box, with Simon Mignolet just getting a fingertip on Rosicky’s low shot towards the far post to push it wide.  The end-to-end football continued, until Arsenal found an opener in the nineteenth minute when Mikel Arteta slipped Bacary Sagna into miles of space on the right, and the right-back sent a curling cross towards the head of Cazorla, who slammed a powerful header towards goal from fifteen yards out.  The ball smacked off the right-hand post, yet Cazorla was there to volley the rebound into the back of the net from eight yards.

Liverpool took a few minutes to respond as Cazorla curled a twenty-yard effort into the arms of Wojciech Szczesny, until some brilliant play from the visitors saw them equalize, or at least they did for two seconds, after which referee Martin Atkinson disallowed Jordan Henderson’s tap-in from Daniel Sturrige’s low cross to call play back to an earlier free-kick that Luis Suarez took a tad bit to fast.  Carola seemed at the heart of nearly every Arsenal attack, with the Spaniard playing it to Rosicky on the edge of the box to start the Gunner’s next break.  Rosicky played it through to Aaron Ramsey down the left, and the Gunner’s joint-top scorer sent a sweet volley on goal which Szczesny parried away.  Cazorla then fizzed a low effort just wide of goal from twenty-five yards as Arsenal began to dominate with the match rolling on to the second-half.

Although Henderson fired Suarez’s cross form the left miles over at the back post five minutes into the second period, Arsenal should have found themselves 2-0 up just four minutes later.  Olivier Giroud cut out Kolo Toure’s pass back to center-back Martin Skrtel and ran through on goal down the left, only to chip a cheeky effort into the side netting.  Yet Wenger’s side made up for their missed opportunity in the fifty-ninth minute, with a Ramsey stunner doubling Arsenal’s lead.  Mesut Ozil chipped a pass from the right to Ramsey, who let the ball bounce three times before smacking a beautiful half-volley into the top left corner of the net, leaving Mignolet with no chance of stopping it.

Still, it’s not over until it’s over, with Liverpool pressing in the final quarter hour.  Sturridge sent a header over the bar before Suarez nearly converted a wonderful low, outside of the boot shot which skimmed the far post from a tight angle on the right.  Yet the final ball just wasn’t precise enough for Liverpool, and Arsenal kept strong to see out the 2-0 victory to keep them atop the Premier League.
Man of the Match: Santi Cazorla

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.