Arsenal’s gamers and followers sat down to look at Sunday’s marquee Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City understanding that their keep atop the Premier League may be transient.
But after the Reds and Sky Blues performed to a pulsating 1-1 tie at Anfield, the Gunners are assured to stay England’s pacesetter till at the very least the finish of the month.
City’s John Stones opened the scoring in the first half. Early in the second, visiting goalkeeper Ederson took down Liverpool striker Darwin Núñez and Alexis Mac Allister transformed the ensuing penalty from 12 yards. Both groups got here near discovering the winner, finally to no avail.
Here are just a few fast takeaways from Sunday’s contest.
Play of the recreation
Stones’ objective — the towering heart again’s first of the season — might have come from an unlikely supply. The near-post effort that he turned previous backup Liverpool backstop Caoimhin Kelleher (starter Alisson Becker is injured) might not have been the most eye-catching of strikes.
It nonetheless had a component of magnificence, nonetheless, in that it was a clearly rehearsed and completely executed set play. Had it not been for Ederson’s clumsy problem on Núñez —one which injured the Brazilian keeper, forcing him to be subbed out of the match — it may need stood up as the winner and leapfrogged City over each the Gunners and Reds and into pole place.
Turning level
Once that they had the lead, Pep Guardiola’s aspect was content material to sit down again just a little and let Liverpool have most of the ball as they probed for alternatives to counterattack. Mac Allister’s equalizer modified the momentum fully.
While City had its probabilities to regain the lead, none higher than a botched clearance by Kelleher that ricocheted off an unsuspecting Phil Foden after which the hosts’s crossbar, Liverpool had most of the momentum and appeared the extra doubtless aspect to attain a second.
Key stat
Liverpool out-shot the Cityzens 19-10, however the statistic that actually stands out is possession. It’s not usually that City is second greatest on this division, however Liverpool had extra of the ball all recreation, ending with 53-percent of the complete.
Some of that undoubtedly comes all the way down to City scoring first. But the fact is that taking part in on Merseyside, with the Kop in full voice behind them, Liverpool was merely the higher crew for many of the night time. In a humorous approach, that makes the end result for the guests much more spectacular.
What’s subsequent for Liverpool?
The draw leaves a major dent in the Reds’ hopes of sending beloved supervisor Jurgen Klopp, who’s leaving his put up at season’s finish, off with a second Prem title. Unless they will overcome Arsenal’s +7 objective differential, they now not management their very own density.
In a nonetheless razor-thin race, all Liverpool can do is think about not slipping up once more in league play, which for them resumes March 31 towards Brighton. Klopp’s lot hosts Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, then meet historic rivals Manchester United in subsequent Sunday’s FA Cup quarterfinal at Old Trafford.
What’s subsequent for Manchester City?
With the Sky Blues, Reds and Gunners all concerned in FA Cup video games subsequent weekend, the final earlier than the March worldwide break, City cannot now climb out of third place till at the very least the finish of the month.
Guardiola’s aspect subsequent hosts Newcastle on Saturday in Cup play, then returns to Premier League motion with one other massively consequential match at residence on March 31 towards — who else? — Arsenal. Lose that one, and any hope for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title evaporates, too.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer author for FOX Sports. Before becoming a member of FOX Sports in 2021, he was a workers author with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has lined United States males’s and girls’s nationwide groups at a number of FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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