Mohamed Salah rescued Liverpool as the Egypt star’s late equaliser earned a pulsating 2-2 draw against title rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
Liverpool was saved by Mohamed Salah, whose late equalizer against championship rivals Arsenal on Sunday resulted in a thrilling 2-2 draw. Salah’s goal with nine minutes remaining at the Emirates Stadium saved Arne Slot’s team from suffering only their second loss of the season. After Bukayo Saka’s early goal placed Liverpool down, Mikel Merino gave Arsenal the lead again before halftime, despite Virgil van Dijk’s equalization. With defenders Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber both substituted out in the second half, Arsenal’s recent spate of ailments helped Salah score his eighth goal in 13 appearances in all competitions this season. The draw in North London made sure Manchester City ended the weekend as the true victors on Sunday.
After defeating Southampton 1-0 on Saturday, unbeaten City is now one point clear of second-place Liverpool, while third-place Arsenal is five points behind the leaders.
Slot, who began his tenure at Anfield with 12 wins from 13 games throughout all competitions, took over from Jurgen Klopp in the offseason, marking only the second time that Liverpool lost.
Following the defensive injuries that exposed them to death, Arsenal had to lick their wounds.
Riccardo Calafiori already missed the match due to an injury he sustained against Shakhtar Donetsk in the middle of the week, while a suspension kept William Saliba out after the referee sent him off in last weekend’s defeat at Bournemouth.
In a significant blow to their ambitions of winning a first championship since 2004, Mikel Arteta’s team has now gone two league games without a victory, leaving them with only three wins in their past seven top-flight outings.
Saka had given Arsenal the ideal start in the ninth minute after missing two games due to injury.
Saka surged down the right wing after Ben White’s brilliant long ball, then he skillfully cut back into the Liverpool area, leaving Andrew Robertson in his wake as he smashed a hard close-range shot into the net’s roof.
When Merino slackly let the ball to get to Salah, who struck narrowly wide from the edge of the box, he almost gave Liverpool an instant equalizer.
Van Dijk got in front of Thomas Partey as the Dutch defender stooped to head home from close range after Luis Diaz beat Kai Havertz to flick in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner.
However, Arsenal’s skill with set pieces allowed them to take the lead again in the 43rd minute.
Merino was ideally positioned to hammer his header past Caoimhin Kelleher from six yards out after Declan Rice’s tease free-kick arrowed into the Liverpool box.
When the Spain midfielder celebrated his first goal since joining from Real Sociedad over the offseason, a protracted VAR review revealed Merino was just onside.
In the closing seconds of an exciting first half, Arsenal goalie David Raya sprinted to his right to block Alexis Mac Allister’s header.
Early in the second half, Gabriel hobbled off with a knee injury following a challenge from Darwin Nunez, further undermining Arteta’s already improvised defense.
Arsenal took a more cautious stance without their first-choice center-back, and Raya received a time-wasting booking with more than 20 minutes remaining.
However, as they defensive problems neared a breaking point and gave Liverpool a lifeline, the Gunners lost Timber to an injury in the final minutes.
With nine minutes remaining, Alexander-Arnold’s lofted pass sent Nunez past teenage replacement Myles Lewis-Skelly, mercilessly exposing Arsenal’s undermanned rearguard.
As Arsenal collapsed to the ground in exasperation, Nunez slid in the unmarked Salah, who slotted home.
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