Mikel Arteta went toe-to-toe with Jürgen Klopp on the touchline but the same could not be said for his players on the pitch. The stirring, youthful revival of Arsenal was halted in emphatic fashion by Liverpool, who inflicted familiar torment on their visitors from the Emirates with a comprehensive recovery of their own.
Aaron Ramsdale again impressed in the Arsenal goal yet was beaten four times as Liverpool moved to second in the table, four points behind Chelsea, courtesy of goals from Sadio Mané, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah, substitute Takumi Minamino and a commanding second-half display.
Anfield has been home to several recent nightmares for Arsenal with Liverpool scoring at least three times in each of their last five consecutive Premier League home wins. That miserable record, combined with the hosts’ pedigree, made this visit the sternest examination of their impressive recovery under Arteta.
The confidence engineered by a 10-game unbeaten run was evident in the visitors’ willingness to invite the Liverpool press into their penalty area with the aim of picking a hole through it. Brave intentions, however, were undermined by Arsenal’s inability to retain possession when they did find Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette in the final third. The pair were often isolated, Bukayo Saka and particularly Emile Smith Rowe marginalised on the periphery, and pressure inevitably built on their back line as a result.
A Liverpool breakthrough had been coming by the time of Mané’s header although, that said, the game had been slow and laborious for the opening 32 minutes. It took a touchline flare-up between the two managers to provide the first real incident and the ignition the contest desperately required.
Klopp was characteristically unimpressed when Mané was penalised for catching Takehiro Tomiyasu with a flailing arm as they challenged for a header and made his feelings clear to referee Michael Oliver. Arteta erupted in fury, racing down the touchline and squaring up to the Liverpool manager before being held back by assistant head coach, Steve Round. Arteta continued to try to reach Klopp, who was kept back by his own coaching staff, and both managers were booked once the melee eventually died down. The Kop made its feelings clear to the former Everton midfielder. They should have thanked him, in hindsight, as Liverpool immediately upped the tempo and seized control.
Aaron Ramsdale was gainfully employed – in stark contrast to Alisson in the Liverpool goal – and produced his first meaningful save when the hugely influential Fabinho found Trent Alexander-Arnold in space on the right. The full-back’s cross was headed out by Ben White to Thiago Alcântara, who volleyed cleanly but straight at the Arsenal goalkeeper. Ramsdale was unable to hold, giving Mané a bite from the rebound, but the keeper reacted expertly to claw away the striker’s attempted chip while on the ground.
Ramsdale blocked with his chest again when Liverpool carved open Arsenal’s defence for the first time. Mané released Konstantinos Tsimikas to the byline and the left-back, deputising for the injured Andy Robertson, crossed invitingly for Mohamed Salah. His first-time shot was saved by the keeper, who pulled the ball away from Salah’s feet for Gabriel Magalhães to clear.
Liverpool, players, crowd and management now fired up in unison, offered the Arsenal defence no respite. Cracks began to show. Alexander-Arnold collected a pass from Thiago, cut inside White and forced another fine save from Ramsdale who tipped over a blistering drive down the centre of his goal. The Arsenal goalkeeper implored his teammates to improve his protection. The appeal went unheeded.
Moments later Alexander-Arnold floated a free-kick deep into the visitors’ area where Mané ghosted in between Gabriel and Tomiyasu to plant a textbook header past Ramsdale. From Arteta’s perspective it was a poor goal to concede. Klopp may have appreciated converting from a set piece after the problems his team had with them in defeat by West Ham earlier in the month.
With Ramsdale’s resistance finally broken, and Arsenal offering little in attack, Liverpool sought to press home their superiority immediately after the restart. Former Gunner Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain placed a shot just wide having been released into the box by Fabinho.
A dreadful mistake from Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares then gave the hosts the comfort of a two-goal lead. Tavares appeared to have done his defensive duty when winning the ball from Alexander-Arnold but, advancing with the ball, he played a needless reverse pass straight to Jota. The Portugal international pounced with cool precision. First he read White’s overcommitted challenge and stepped inside the flying centre-half before wrongfooting Ramsdale to convert into an empty net.
Klopp’s team were flying through the Arsenal defence at will. But for Ramsdale, the visitors would have endured an even heavier defeat. The new England international saved bravely at the feet of Jota when the striker was played clean through by Salah. He denied Jota again, this time with a fine reaction save, after Salah had opened up Arsenal’s penalty area with a superb pass. When Arsenal finally broke the pressure, Alisson denied Aubameyang with his feet.
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Salah’s performance was rewarded with the goal it deserved when he volleyed home Mané’s cross at close range. The move had started with Alisson’s clearance out of defence to Tsimikas, who headed inside for Jota to send the Senegal international scampering away.
Another flowing team move brought the fourth. Mané, Salah and Alexander-Arnold combined with a combination of first time passes for Minamino to tap home at the back post seconds after his introduction from the bench.