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It was the first in a series of litmus tests and Arsenal‘s pretenders lived up to the expectations and more. Apart from a subset of perennially delusional gooners, no one expected them to really be serious title contenders. Liverpool made sure the bubble burst and they did it in style.
In many ways, this game was more about the comeback of the Reds under Brendan Rodgers rather than another (yawn) Arsenal meltdown. The latter is expected at some point in every season, but Liverpool have made a remarkable comeback and now look good for 4th or higher.
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The pace and pressure from the home side was a joy to watch. This felt like the Liverpool of old, and if I may, Manchester United under Sir Alex. It all started with a couple of set piece situations exploited to the full by Martin Skrtel and Liverpool were up 2-0 in no time. Then the true onslaught began.
Relentless pressing forced a rattled Arsenal to make mistake after mistake. Mesut Özil, who is now seriously risking being called a flop, gave away a ball too easily and that led to a lightning quick counter attack leading to a goal that was almost ‘Arsenalesque’ in its rhythm and fluidity. Within 20 minutes, Liverpool were 4-0 up and it could easily have been 6 or 7.
The second half started with Arsenal looking to restore pride. Raheem Sterling had other ideas though and he topped off another Liverpool counter attack with a calm finish on the rebound. It was 5-0 and total humiliation. Wenger soon surrendered and made all three substitutions together, with one eye on the Manchester United game.
To their credit, Arsenal continued to attack and were rewarded with a penalty when Steven Gerrard brought down Alex Oxlade Chamberlain in the box. Mikel Arteta converted to give Arsenal some….well actually nothing, it was meaningless.
Liverpool remain 6 points behind 3rd place Chelsea, but have made up ground to the top and look good for a Champions League place. If Chelsea and Manchester City win their games, Arsenal will be down to 3rd, 5 points ahead of Liverpool. Brendan Rodgers has been shy about Liverpool’s title chances and rightly so. Manchester City and Chelsea look too far ahead at the moment. But the Scot can now set his sights on 3rd, given the quality of recent performances.
As for Arsenal, their title challenge is all but mathematically over. They haven’t convinced against big teams for the last few years and have given no indication that it will change this time around. They have been very consistent, at failing in big games. Clinical performances against weaker sides and transitions at Man City, Chelsea and Man United have helped them lead the table for long periods, but we can expect the natural order to be restored come May.
