Liverpool v Arsenal (2020-21)

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Liverpool v Arsenal (2020-21)

Liverpool Arsenal 3 1
HT:2–1 Report
Event	Premier League 2020-21
Date	Monday 28 September 2020
Venue	Anfield, Liverpool
Player of the Match	Sadio Mané
Referee	Craig Pawson
Attendance	0
Weather	12 °C (53 °F)
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Liverpool v Arsenal was a match which took place at Anfield on Monday 28 September 2020.

Liverpool's new £45m signing Diogo Jota grabbed a home debut goal as the champions demonstrated their determination to retain an iron grip on their Premier League crown by coming from behind to record an impressive victory against Arsenal at Anfield.

The Gunners, who had won their opening two league games, went ahead after 25 minutes when Alexandre Lacazette took advantage of Andrew Robertson's error to bundle a close-range finish past Alisson but ended well beaten.

Liverpool, who maintained their 100% start to the season and moved second behind Leicester City, responded instantly as man-of-the-match Sadio Mane, who was perhaps fortunate when a high arm into the face of Kieran Tierney was only punished with a yellow card early on, pounced two minutes later after Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno could only push out Mohamed Salah's shot.

And Liverpool went ahead before half-time when Robertson atoned for his earlier error by getting on the end of Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross to beat Leno.

Liverpool were far superior but Arsenal will rue a great chance missed by Lacazette, who shot tamely at Alisson when he was clean through with the score 2-1 and their night was complete when Jota, making his Anfield bow following his move from Wolves, shot low past Leno from the edge of the area.

Liverpool's response to Arsenal taking the lead sent a powerful message to anyone with hopes of challenging Jurgen Klopp's side for the Premier League title this season.

In contrast to the collapse we saw from Manchester City once Leicester City took control at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Liverpool simply went through even higher gears after Lacazette pounced to give the Gunners the lead.

Led by the irrepressible Mane, Liverpool were back on terms within two minutes and a tidal wave of attacks saw them ahead by the interval.

Mane is the star of the show at Liverpool at the moment, outshining even Salah with his potent mixture of pace, work-rate and goal threat.

The attacker may have rode his luck early on, however, when he caught Tierney full on with that raised arm and might have been very relieved to only see the yellow card produced by referee Craig Pawson.

Liverpool's squad strength was also on display, with new signing Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson missing through injury, they coped impressively and the icing on the cake was provided by Jota's lively late cameo, in which he missed a great chance, had one taken off him by Salah and then scored in a moment which clearly delighted Klopp on the sidelines.

The challengers will have hopes of depriving Liverpool of a second successive title - but on this evidence it will take some doing.

Arsenal have plenty of reasons for optimism under Mikel Arteta, fuelled by last season's FA Cup win and a good start to this term.

This, however, was an illustration of just how far they have got to go and why it is perfectly understandable Arteta is not getting carried away and stressing just how much rebuilding still needs to be done.

Arsenal flirted with danger as they knocked the ball around at the back in the face of Liverpool's high press, not helped by the lack of quality on the ball when they did work it into midfield.

On the other side, however, they were right in this game until the closing moments and should have scored when Lacazette raced clear only to send a weak finish at Alisson with the score 2-1.

Arsenal return here on Thursday hoping to do better in the Carabao Cup at the start of a run of games that will provide further tests for Arteta, with visits to Manchester City and Manchester United and a home game against table-topping Leicester City.

Match

Details

28 September 2020 20:15 GMT	Liverpool	3–1	Arsenal	Anfield, Liverpool Attendance: 0 Referee: Craig Pawson
	Mané  28' Robertson  34' Jota  88'	HT:2–1 Report	Lacazette  25'

Liverpool

Arsenal

01 Alisson 66 Trent Alexander-Arnold 12 Joe Gomez 04 Virgil van Dijk 26 Andrew Robertson 08 Naby Keïta 79' 03 Fabinho 05 Georginio Wijnaldum 11 Mohamed Salah 09 Roberto Firmino 90+1' 10 Sadio Mané 80' Substitutes: 07 James Milner 79' 13 Adrián 17 Curtis Jones 18 Takumi Minamino 90+1' 20 Diogo Jota 80' 27 Divock Origi 76 Neco Williams Manager: Jürgen Klopp

01 Bernd Leno 16 Rob Holding 23 David Luiz 03 Kieran Tierney 02 Héctor Bellerín 25 Mohamed Elneny 34 Granit Xhaka 60' 15 Ainsley Maitland-Niles 12 Willian 68' 09 Alexandre Lacazette 74' 14 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Substitutes: 06 Gabriel Magalhães 07 Bukayo Saka 08 Dani Ceballos 60' 13 Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson 19 Nicolas Pépé 68' 30 Eddie Nketiah 74' 31 Sead Kolašinac Manager: Mikel Arteta

Man of the Match: Sadio Mané Assistant referees: Lee Betts Richard West Fourth official: Anthony Taylor

Match rules 90 minutes, no extra time or penalties. Three points awarded to winner, none to loser. One point awarded to each in the event of a draw. Seven named substitutes Maximum of three substitutions

Match Stats

• Match Stats

Overall	Liverpool	Arsenal
Goals scored	3	1
Total shots	21	4
Shots on target	8	3
Ball possession	66%	34%
Corner kicks	7	3
Fouls committed	11	7

See also

• 2020-21 Premier League: Match day 3

External links

• Match report at BBC.co.uk
• Match report at Premier League.com

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