ROBERTO FIRMINO’S late equaliser blew the Premier League title race open as Arsenal tossed away a two-goal lead to waste their chance of a landmark victory at Anfield.
On a day of extraordinary drama, which included Andy Robertson being elbowed by a linesman and Mohamed Salah duffing a penalty in front of The Kop, Mikel Arteta’s leaders ultimately wilted.
Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus had propelled the Gunners into a 2-0 lead inside half an hour but on a tempestuous Anfield afternoon, Salah pulled a goal back and supersub Firmino nodded the leveller after a sensational Trent Alexander-Arnold nutmeg.
It meant that Liverpool had allowed their bitter rivals Manchester City right back into the title hunt.
Pep Guardiola’s champions are still six points behind Arsenal but they have a game in hand and host the leaders at the Etihad on April 26, meaning their fate is in their own hands because of this result.
It was a gloriously chaotic occasion which included Robertson being struck in the throat by the elbow of linesman Constantine Hatzidakis after he had confronted the official at half-time following a stormy end to the first period.
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Then Salah missed from the spot for the second successive time, early in the second half, to delay Liverpool’s comeback attempt.
It was Martinelli who netted the early opener and provided a gorgeous assist for Jesus.
In all, there are three Gabriels in Arteta’s team but they are certainly no angels – they attempted to eat up the clock and managed the game with some dark arts.
Liverpool are still 12 points off the top four with their hopes of Champions League football for next season surely extinguished now.
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For much of the afternoon, here was a young team on a sharp upward momentum against an ageing side whose greatness has evaporated at an unusual pace.
But despite their huge drop in form this season, Klopp’s men had consistently proved themselves capable of raising it for big domestic home matches – with both Manchester clubs and Newcastle all succumbing at Anfield.
And they raised their levels again here, with Aaron Ramsalde ultimately denying them victory with two sensational saves in injury-time.
In fact, none of Liverpool’s major domestic rivals have beaten them on their own patch in front of a crowd since 2016.
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That their historic 7-0 humiliation of United was one of only two wins in their previous eight games underlines their wild inconsistency.
After a period of silence to mark the 34th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, the visitors were quickly into their stride.
Martinelli, who had skinned Alexander-Arnold inside the opening seconds, netted the eighth-minute opener.
Bukayo Saka, back in the starting line-up after a rest against Leeds last weekend, darted inside from the right and fed Martin Odegaard.
The Arsenal skipper attempted a return pass but it deflected off Virgil van Dijk sparking chaos in the Liverpool defence and allowing Martinelli to beat Alexander-Arnold again and nick it past Alisson.
Remarkably, it was the first time this year that Liverpool had conceded a Premier League goal at home.
Emboldened by this, Arsenal went for the throat. Oleksandr Zinchenko’s bending long-ranger was pushed wide by Alisson and Jesus
Early on, Arsenal were bold and energetic, Liverpool tentative and clunky as they attempted to play out from the back with limited success.
But there was a warning shot for Arteta’s men when Ben White lost possession and was caught out of position when Robertson dragged a shot wide.
White was soon booked despite winning the ball from Diogo Jota with what have been deemed an excellent tackle until football attempted to eradicate that art.
Liverpool had been enjoying a decent spell, though, when Arsenal countered and netted their second.
This time Martinelli was the provider with a gorgeous curling centre, as Jesus dropped off Van Dijk and towered over Robertson to head home at the back stick like the authentic centre-forward Guardiola never quite believed him to be.
Van Dijk was soon booked after being beaten for pace by Jesus and clattering the striker.
Liverpool looked a busted flush, with Anfield hushed, but then Granit Xhaka decided to stick an elbow on Alexander-Arnold, who retaliated, with both players cautioned.
That self-defeating act from the Swiss midfielder raised the temperature significantly and suddenly Scouse bile was raining down on the leaders.
Almost instantly a fired-up home side reduced the deficit.
A neat back-heel from Curtis Jones snack-heel fed Jota, who cut-back for Jordan Henderson.
The skipper seemed to miscue a shot but it fell to Salah, who snapped up the chance at the back post.
Alexander-Arnold started cheerleading and Henderson skied an excellent chance to equalise in first-half injury time.
At half-time, Robertson confronted the linesman Hatzidakis who elbowed the full-back in the throat.
With the place now a bearpit, Arsenal were visibly rattled and soon after the restart, stand-in centre-back Rob Holding – widely billed as Arteta’s weak link – tripped Jota from corner and ref Paul Tierney pointed to the spot.
With Klopp choosing now to watch, Salah – for the second time in as many attempts – fired his spot-kick wide.
The Egyptian almost made amends with a shot which forced a fine save from Ramsdale.
The Arsenal keeper then denied Darwin Nunez with a sharp save from a one-on-one.
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It felt as if the Gunners had weathered the storm when Alexander-Arnold nutmegged Zinchenko and crossed for Firmino to head the equaliser.
In injury-time, Ramsdale pulled off two outstanding saves to deny Salah and Ibrahima Konate before Arsenal squandered a chance to snatch victory on the counter-attack at the very death.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
