Key events
49 min Thinking again about Jasper’s email, the point with Isak isn’t so much about him taking a dive, but making enough of a confident fuss to make sure VAR take a serious look.
48 min Araujo, of whom we’ve seen relatively little, crosses, but the various attackers are on their heels.
46 min Has Arteta made any tactical tweaks, or will he just have instructed his team to show a little more composure in possession? It may be that his attackers just aren’t good enough to take the ball and attack defenders one on one; dare he gamble on Eze, who has form for carrying it on this grounf?
46 min We go again…
“I really dread the suggestion that Isak ‘should have made more’ of the pull on his shirt,” says Jasper Walgrave. “It’s a clear penalty for all to see and there’s VAR. Saying players should make a whole scene for a clear penalty to be awarded is throwing bait at all the divers and the fakers and the theatrics which we should so love to get rid of.”
Yes, I agree, but if VAR can’t be trusted, what are players to do? I think there’s also a problem inherent within the laws and spirit of the game: some fouls are tolerated because we want a contact sport that flows, in which goals are earned. So stuff is let go as “not enough for a penalty” though, according to the letter of the legislation, there’s no doubt.
Half-time email: “Re the top of the PL, I agree,” says Tim Stappard. “Considering the billions spaffed the quality is very poor. Who has a great defence a great midfield and a great attack in this league?”
And how many attackers are top five in the world? Not many. As I intimate below, winning the league is always an achievement and the money in it means the teams from sixth to 17th had never been better. But the standard was relatively low, though the physicality was extremely high.
Half-time reading:
It’s the way I tell em.
HALF-TIME: Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal
A bouncing half of Premier League FootballTM, throbbing with tempo and burgeoning needle, if lacking a bit of composure and quality. It was excellent fare and Arsenal lead thanks to a decent start and superb Declan Rice cross. But there’s much, much more to come.
45+2 min Barcola stretches, ploughs Timber thigh to thigh, and the ref decides that is where he’s drawing the line; booking. Which is was yet, at the same time, it makes no sense given what was waved through earlier in the half.
45+1 min We’ll have two additional minutes.
45 min “Arsenal fans are well used to being told that our title was won by default,” chortles Christian Gunn, “that refs gave it to us, unworthy champions, Set-Piece FC etc but ‘absence of high class challengers’ is a fruity new one! And entirely fictional! Please critique as much as you like but at least keep it on the straight and narrow. Anything else? Your mate saw Ben White drowning kittens? Martin Zubimendi puts forks in the spoon bit?”
You think the standard at the top of the Prem is high? The Champions League suggests otherwise, and so does the eye-test. A title is a title and none are to be sneezed at, but I’d be shocked to hear anyone rhapsodise the quality at the top.
42 min Liverpool have Arsenal serried in their box once again, but another cross is cleared and off we go again. I’m surprised this is how they’re trying to score because of how well we know Gabriel, Calafiori and Konsa defend them but here they go yet again, Kerkez bouncing down the left and Mac Allister arriving on the burst; ye’ve gottae score! But though he introduces brow to ball, he sends it over the top, to receive instant appraisal from a sensitive soul in the away end.
39 min It’s Wirtz who unleashes a dipper that soars over Raya … and cannons the bar! That was a terrific effort, but Liverpool have got to make their pressure count before Arsenal get to reorganise at half-time. This is, by some distance, the best Premier League game I’ve seen this season.
38 min Liverpool win a corner Gabriel is certain they shouldn’t have, then Isak beats Madueke only to be tackled by Timber. The ref, though, appraises a foul; free-kick just outside the box, left-hand side, Wirtz and Gakpo behind it.
36 min Mac Allister opts not to shoot left-footed having opened the lane, so plays into the box and when the ball squirts off Barcola, Isak takes a touch before shooting wide of the near post. Arsenal, meantime, lack an out-ball and are also struggling to play out.
34 min We’re shown the 20th-minute cross on to which Isak couldn’t stick a head, and Timber has a proper handful of his shirt. In co-comms, Gary Nevile can’t understand why he didn’t make more of a fuss and he’s right – unlike the Tzoils/Gakpo one, that was enough for a penalty.
33 min I’m enjoying Liverpool’s breathless onslaught, but I’d like to see a little more finesse – of thought was well as of action. They’re putting Arsenal under pressure with speed and territory, but aren’t asking questions by getting them turned and chasing runners; more take-ons and quicker combinations are required.
31 min Yet another ball into the box and Kerkez appears at centre-forward, but he can’t quite get away from Konsa.
29 min Another ball lofted into the box, Gakpo chasing and Tzolis sort of holds him, then he hurls himself into the turf knowing he’s not getting it. On the touchline, Iraola, is certain it’s a penalty, but though VAR takes a look this is never getting overturned, nor should it be.
28 min Liverpool are putting ball after ball into the box but if there’s one thing these Arsenal defenders know how to do and there isn’t, there’s more, it’s clear their lines.
27 min Goodness, there’s some tempo to this now, Calafiori fouling Gakpo; again there’s no carde and the ref has set a standard of permitted foul now. The free-kick causes minor panic and earns a corner, headed on by Van Dijk, Raya doing enough to block Isak’s touch when he sneaks in behind.
25 min The problem Liverpool have is that as they chase an equaliser, they leave themselves vulnerable to conceding a second and, as I type, Tozlis curls to the back post and Madueke is there, extending a leg to divert the ball back across. But just as it looks headed for Havertz, it hits Timber then, seconds later, Rice hammers a shot straight at Alisson.
24 min Mac Allister lasers a ball left to Kerkez, who does well to keep it in but then crosses straight to a defender. So Arsenal move down the other end, Madueke option not to attack Kerkez, instead siding backwards to Bruno, who sweeps into the middle; the ball kicks off Van Dijk’s shin and flies behind, but the ref doesn’t spot the deflection.
22 min Liverpool come again, Gakpo mooching over to the left and sliding in behind for Barcola, who might cut back first time but instead opts to wait, giving the defenders enough time to block the various passing lanes.
20 min Liverpool have been better since falling behind and Wirtz finds Barcola, who steps inside to swing in a brute of a cross, just too much on it for Isak … who may have been tugged back. But they come again, Arsenal giving it away and Barcola speeding by Rice on the outside, his low cross intercepted by 176 defenders sliding in to put faces in the way if need be. That’s why they’re champions.
18 min Back come Liverpool, stung. Raya passes out poorly and Barcola seizes the loose ball, but there’s Rice, arriving out of nowhere to make the challenge. In terms of ability, he’s not the greatest around, but his intangibles – desire, nous, leadership, consistency – are top notch.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal (Havertz 16)
A poor pass-out from Alisson puts Liverpool under pressure and Odegaard is first into press, the ball squirting oose. Quickly, Arsenal move it right, Bruno and Tzolis involved, then Rice storms around the outside of Madueke, fed the ball into stride before measuring a perfect cross through the corridor, Havertz running it in at the far post.
14 min Arsenal are starting to dominate in midfield, but do they have enough attacking edge to create? Their trio is an attacker short, I think, and I wonder if they might find better chemistry with Guimaraes seeking to control so Rice can gambol forward. Oh, and as I type, they do just that, Rice thwacking high.
13 min “Just because Arteta’s paranoid, doesn’t mean his team didn’t weren’t pipped to first three years running by a club conspiring against the league,” writes Kári Tulinius. “However, because of his personal employment history, he can’t bring that up, and instead talks like the relative you least want to be seated next to at the holiday dinner.”
I’m not sure how much fun he’d be even in different circumstances.
10 min A poor touch from Nyoni, who chases it and this time, introduces studs to heel, Havertz down. Somehow, he once again avoids a booking when really, he’s doing well to still be on the pitch; the first one was a stonewaller and the second wasn’t far off it, while I’ve not a clue how the combination of the two lead to no sanction.
9 min Timber clips a long pass in behind for Havertz but Liverpool catch him offside – not necessarily because theirs is a well-drilled offside trap.
8 min This time, Wirtz pinches possession deep inside his own half and finds Isaka, who punches a pass through the middle for Barcola, one of those speedsters who looks like a flying cartoon character. But Raya is wise to the ruse, racing out to hump clear.
