Roberto Firmino scored a late equaliser as Liverpool came from two goals behind to hold Arsenal to a potentially damaging draw in their pursuit of the Premier League title.
The Gunners had not won at Liverpool's home ground in the Premier League since 2012 and Firmino's 87th-minute header from Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross header broke their hearts. Mikel Arteta's side looked to be on course for an eighth-straight win to restore their eight-point lead at the top after Manchester City cut the gap by beating Southampton 4-1, but it wasn't to be.
Arsenal came out of the blocks with real pace and deservedly took the lead early on when Virgil van Dijk inadvertently sent Martin Odegaard's pass into the path of Gabriel Martinelli, who poked past Alisson. Andy Robertson smashed a good chance wide before Gabriel Jesus made it 2-0, getting in between Robertson and Van Dijk to nod Martinelli's cross in.
The Anfield crowd got into things following a few feisty incidents and Liverpool went into the break at 2-1 after Mohamed Salah turned in from Jordan Henderson's touch at the back post. Salah should have made it 2-2 in the second half, but placed his penalty wide after Rob Holding brought down Diogo Jota in the box.
Darwin Nunez spurned a one-on-one chance with Aaron Ramsdale after a through-ball from Salah, but it wasn't to matter. Alexander-Arnold skipped past Oleksandr Zinchenko and stood up a perfect cross for Firmino to nod in at the back post.
Ramsdale tipped over Salah's curling effort and kept out Ibrahima Konate at point-blank range to earn Arsenal a point, as they failed to take advantage of a late, late counter-attack opportunity.
Here are Mirror Football's talking points from an absorbing, incident-packed blockbuster match at Anfield.
Trent gets adventurous
The discussion about Trent Alexander-Arnold moving into midfield is so old and stale that it has become extremely boring. But perhaps not for Jurgen Klopp, who decided to give a trial to the classic pub discussion against Arsenal.
Alexander-Arnold drifted into the middle of the pitch when Liverpool had the ball, mirroring Oleksandr Zinchenko on the opposite team and following the trend started by Pep Guardiola in the Premier League.
It wasn’t to the taste of former right-back Gary Neville, who questioned the tactic on commentary for Sky Sports. “Just looking at Trent in midfield, they’ve only had two or three days since the Chelsea game and you’re asking someone to do something where you can’t have worked on it a lot,” he said. “We know other teams do it - Manchester City do it, Zinchenko does it for Arsenal, but you get the feeling that’s been planned and worked on.”
He later added: “I just don’t get it, surely it would be quicker to actually teach him to defend as a right back instead of making him a central midfield player?” Zing.
Gunners’ game management
Mikel Arteta is all about the 1 per centers – and that was evident at Anfield, with Arsenal trying everything to kill any Liverpool momentum in the first half.
In the 20th minute Aaron Ramsdale brought on the physio to look at his eye, allowing Arsenal’s 10 other players to head straight over to Arteta for instructions and a drink. The same thing happened later in the first half after Salah had an opportunity, with Gabriel playing the stricken player this time.
“You just wonder whether Arteta’s said we can’t let them get ahead of steam, everytime there’s a chance, kill the game for a minute or so,” Neville said on commentary. “It’s clever if he’s done that. I don’t believe it’s coincidence.”
There was some less-than-subtle time wasting late in the second half, which helped them secure the vital three points.
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Xhaka stirs things up
Arsenal looked to be in complete control of things until Granit Xhaka barged into Alexander-Arnold to spark a flashpoint. The two players went head to head as the handbags came out. Both were booked by Paul Tierney and the incident had the effect of turning up the volume several notches inside Anfield as the crowd became incensed.
The feisty atmosphere seemed to benefit Liverpool, who pulled a goal back through Salah and appeared to rally before the half-time whistle. Xhaka has something of a reputation for a lack of discipline, but he has been fantastic for Arsenal this season. His behaviour was ill-advised, but had little to do with Salah’s goal.
The linesman's elbow
After a madcap 45 minutes of football, the players were supposed to head into the tunnel to take a breather and take stock. Instead our attention was drawn to the pitch where Liverpool players were furiously speaking to referee Paul Tierney.
It transpired that Robertson was alleging that linesman Constantine Hatzidakis had elbowed him in the chin while he was trying to discuss something with him. Henderson led the remonstrations with Tierney, who ended up booking Robertson in the melee.
According to Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves, as he went down the tunnel Robertson said: "He’s just elbowed me in the throat, the linesman has elbowed me in the throat." There is likely to be some sort of investigation into what happened in the coming days.
Salah's aim awry
"I worry at this level he has a real lack of pace, sometimes he gets too tight to people, so if you are Liverpool you’ll be looking at that as any area where they are vulnerable, especially on the turn he’s very, very slow. Good honest player, he’ll attack it, but in terms of quick play in and around his feet I think he’s short at the highest level."
Roy Keane is not a fan of Rob Holding. He was proven right when the Arsenal centre-back clumsily brought down Jota in the box to give away a penalty early in the second half, but the away side were reprieved by Salah from 12 yards.
The Egyptian simply passed his shot wide of the post. The ball went in the same direction as the missed penalty he was guilty of against Bournemouth last month. It might be time that Liverpool found a new penalty taker.
History weighs heavy
Here follows a list of the previous results in this Premier League fixture.
21/22: Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal
20/21: Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal
19/20: Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal
18/19: Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal
17/18: Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal
16/17: Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal
15/16: Liverpool 3-3 Arsenal
14/15: Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal
13/14: Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal
In short, Arsenal did not have a good record at Anfield in the Premier League coming into this gigantic match. In this context - and with the lead at the top - a draw doesn't look too bad. But it will annoy Arteta, who is a perfectionist.
Firmino shocks Arsenal
Firmino climbed off the bench and rolled back the years for Liverpool. He was involved in the move which ended with him heading the ball into the net, building from deep before Alexander-Arnold created it.
The Brazilian is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season after eight years of service and this was a fitting moment for the long-serving striker.
It has dented Arsenal's title hopes and given Manchester City a glimmer of hope, with six points instead of eight the gap at the top.
