A post-match scene of Arsenal despair painted a pretty picture for Manchester City. Gabriel Magalhães sank to his knees on the final whistle, Oleksandr Zinchenko held his head in his hands and Mikel Arteta assumed the role of counsellor‑in‑chief to lift his players physically and emotionally. Anfield, the stage of Arsenal’s greatest title moment, may have cost them dearly again.
In the 40th minute of a potentially defining game in the title race, Arsenal led Liverpool 2-0 and with such authority that an eight-point lead over City with eight games to play appeared a fair reflection of their precocious gifts. Then Granit Xhaka needlessly barged an arm into the back of Trent Alexander-Arnold and sparked a melee that ignited a previously forlorn home crowd. The elbow that the assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis threw at Andy Robertson will claim the headlines, but it was Xhaka’s stupidity that shaped the rest of a pulsating, frentic and significant evening.
