Arsenal beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday. Kai Havertz scored the only goal after 16 minutes, and Declan Rice set it up. It is Arsenal’s first league win at Anfield in 14 years.
The result puts Mikel Arteta’s team top of the Premier League with 24 points from nine games, and they have won eight of them. Manchester City lost at home to Brighton on Saturday and stay on 21 points. Liverpool, coached by Andoni Iraola, are fifth with 15 points.
An early goal from a Liverpool mistake
The goal started with a loose pass from Alisson as Liverpool tried to play out from the back. The ball reached Rice on the right, and he played a low ball across the box. Havertz was waiting at the far post and turned it in.
The goal also gave Havertz a place in the record books. It was his 46th in the Premier League, one more than Ilkay Gündoğan, so he is now the highest-scoring German player in the history of the league.
Liverpool push but cannot find a way through
Liverpool had more of the ball for most of the afternoon. Florian Wirtz came closest in the first half, when his curling free kick hit the crossbar with David Raya beaten.
After the break the home side kept pushing, but they rarely got a clean shot at goal. Iraola brought on Dominik Szoboszlai and later made three more changes. At the other end, Alisson kept the gap at one goal with a low save from Christos Tzolis. The last ten minutes got heated, and Alexis Mac Allister and Jurriën Timber were both booked after a scuffle.
Arsenal saw it out. Raya was booked for wasting time in stoppage time, and Virgil van Dijk was booked just before the final whistle.
A long wait is over
Before the game, Arteta spoke openly about Arsenal’s record at Anfield. He told reporters it had been 14 years since Arsenal last won there, and said “it’s time to do it”. His players did it, and it is also Arteta’s first win at Anfield since he took over as Arsenal manager in 2019.
Our take
This was not a pretty win, and Arsenal will not mind at all. Teams that win titles find a way through games like this one, and Arsenal have now done it at one of the hardest grounds in England.
Havertz was in the right place again, and Rice’s pass was perfect. For Liverpool, the worry is up front. They had plenty of the ball and still found it hard to hurt Raya. Iraola needs more from his forwards if Liverpool want to stay close to the top.
Can Arsenal stay top of the table until May? Tell us in the comments.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Kai Havertz by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0), Declan Rice by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0), Anfield by FYI2023 (CC0).
