Arsenal and Liverpool delivered a raucous showdown in the Premier League’s big game at the Emirates on Sunday evening.
Martin Ødegaard played another good game for his team and could finally celebrate with his arms raised. After the match, TV images were shown of Ødegaard lending the camera to a club photographer and taking pictures out on the pitch in the jubilant scenes.
It was that stunt that Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher didn’t like.
– Just get out in the players’ tunnel, you’ve won the game, it’s three points, said the Liverpool legend.
– You have played a brilliant match. You are back in the title fight. Get out in the players’ tunnel, Carragher continued.
Wikestad: – Impossible to understand
The match kept a crazy pace, but was also marked by some gross and decisive mistakes.
Like when Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker really messed up after 67 minutes of play in London. Van Dijk tried to shield the ball to the goalkeeper, but the Brazilian missed the ball and thus Gabriel Martinelli could walk it into the empty cage.
– Liverpool cannot believe this is happening. It’s a gift from the best stopper and goalkeeper in the league, said Sky Sports‘ Gary Neville.
Viaplay commentator Kasper Wikestad struggled to understand what the Liverpool duo were up to.
– It is impossible to understand what they are thinking, he said after Arsenal’s second goal was a fact.
However, it wasn’t just the guests who messed it up. Just before half-time, there was also chaos in Arsenal’s back ranks. Luis Diaz did a man’s job when he pressured Arsenal’s Gabriel into his own net with his arm to equalise.
– Absolutely disastrous from Arsenal. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. The home fans are reacting with a mixture of shock and fury, reported Sky Sports reporter Nick Wright from the Emirates.
– Arsenal are messing things up for themselves and it is a shock for them to go to half-time with a draw. Liverpool are lucky, said Roy Keane.
Unlike Liverpool’s mistake, Arsenal’s mistake was not decisive.
Since Bukayo Saka had given the home team the lead earlier in the match, while Leandro Trossard scored towards the end, it thus ended with a 3-1 victory for Arsenal and the team took important points in the title match.
Liverpool remain with their 51 points, while Mikel Arteta’s men are now up to 49 points.
Ødegaard boast
After barely a quarter of an hour of the big game between Arsenal and Liverpool, the hosts took the lead through Bukayo Saka. The same man had already managed to abuse a giant chance earlier in the match, but this time he made no mistake.
It all started with a lovely strike from Martin Ødegaard, which passed through to Kai Havertz. The German came alone with goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who had to return. It converted Saka easily into the nets to deafening cheers from the home fans.
Ødegard received praise for his involvement in the scoring.
– No one in the world hits that pass better than Martin Ødegaard, wrote TV 2 expert Jesper Mathisen on X.
Viaplay’s commentary team also agreed that the Norwegian played big in the important match at the Emirates.
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– He has been enormous, said commentator Wikestad for a while in the first half.
– Yes, it is violent, and so is Arsenal’s attacking game at the moment, answered expert Tor Ole Skullerud.
Got Neville refs
Liverpool got a good run for a period of the first half and Ødegaard also had a great opportunity to double the lead.
The midfielder was set up in a good position inside the box, but was stopped by Virgil van Dijk at the last second.
– Ødegaard took too much time and when he decided to shoot, he had given van Dijk time to get into position, said Sky Sports expert Gary Neville.
After a few hectic minutes, Liverpool came to life a little more and got a better grip on the game.
At the very end of the first half, the equalizer also came when Gabriel messed up the ball in his own goal after persistent preparation by Luis Diaz. The Colombian refused to give up and in a slightly whimsical way pushed for a goal almost at will.
Thus, the teams were at the same distance when referee Anthony Taylor took the whistle to his mouth and signaled for half-time.
Liverpool-rot
After the break, it was a completely different Liverpool that came out on the field and Klopp’s men seemed much fresher. During the first minutes of the second half, the visitors showed more attacking intent than they did during the entire first half.
At the same time, Arsenal were not harmless either, and thus everything was set for a raucous conclusion to the match.
In the 64th minute, the home team called for a penalty when Havertz went to the ground inside the box after a duel with Alexis Mac Allister. The VAR took a second look at the images, but ultimately agreed with referee Taylor that it was not a penalty.
Soon after, however, Liverpool messed it up for themselves. Van Dijk miscalculated a long play and tried to screen the ball in to goalkeeper Alisson, but the latter missed the ball. Thus, Gabriel Martinelli could instead put the ball into the open goal.
The pain got worse for Liverpool when Ibrahim Konate received his second yellow card on the spot and was sent off.
The visitors made some attempts to fight back, but in the end it was rather Leandro Trossard who put the nail in the coffin. Again it was poor goalkeeping by goalkeeper Alisson.