Arsenal 4-1 Liverpool: Cannon shoots down top 4 dream

Ozil and Sanchez scored beautiful goals at the end of the first half to help Arsenal have a resounding victory over their big opponents.

Giroud completed Arsenal's successful day with a powerful shot from outside the box. Photo: Reuters.

Liverpool fell apart in the final eight minutes of the first half. Goalkeeper Mignolet picked the ball out of the net from shots by Hector Bellerin, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. In the second half, the visitors reduced the deficit from a penalty by captain Jordan Henderson. However, Emre Can's indirect red card was the end for Liverpool. Brendan Rodgers' team left the Emirates Stadium with another goal conceded when Oliver Giroud sealed the 4-1 lead in stoppage time.

A resounding victory over Liverpool helped Arsenal take second place from Man City before the team visited Crystal Palace in the latest match of round 31. Arsenal currently has 63 points, two points more than Man City and four points behind the leader Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Liverpool suffered their second consecutive defeat against top-four rivals. Last round they lost to Man Utd and today Arsenal. This not only puts Liverpool at risk of widening the gap but also losing their current fifth position if Southampton and Tottenham both win.

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Liverpool entered the match at the Emirates without a number of key players and with backroom turmoil following the Sterling contract dispute. Entering the match as underdogs, Liverpool were quickly pressured by Arsenal early in the match and would have conceded an early goal had Mignolet not made a brilliant save to deny Ramsey's one-on-one shot.

It wasn't until midway through the first half that Liverpool began to regain control and launch sharp counter-attacks towards Arsenal's goal. The visitors even had a clearer chance to open the scoring when Markovic was one-on-one with Ospina but decided to pass to Sterling, who couldn't keep up to finish.

Liverpool were the better side in the middle of the first half, with plenty of dangerous attacks, but it was Arsenal's day. The home side had their stars shine, which is so important in big games. Young defender Bellerin unexpectedly opened the scoring with a decisive run and finish in the 37th minute. Almost immediately, Ozil doubled the lead with a stunning free-kick from 20 yards. Alexis Sanchez rounded off the first half with a thunderous strike from outside the box into the top corner to make it 3-0.

Ozil scored a beautiful goal from a free kick. Photo: Reuters.

The last time Liverpool were three goals down at half-time in the Premier League was more than 20 years ago, in February 1994. This is not only historically sad but also shows the current frustration of Liverpool.

Liverpool's only bright spot in this match was attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian star had bright passes that sometimes tore apart Arsenal's defense. Unfortunately, there was no real striker in front of Coutinho to finish his passes. The duo of Sterling and Markovic clearly showed their weakness in finishing ability and hasty mentality in front of Arsenal's goal.

Sterling still attracted attention with his ball control and dribbling but in reality, he was doing Liverpool a disservice. The visitors played defensively in this match but the ball was always a beat slow and lacked speed when it passed through Sterling's feet. Sterling should have shown more simplicity and creativity when the Arsenal defense was always following him like a shadow.

The attack lacked innovation while Liverpool's defense played like they were sleepwalking. Defensive midfielder Lucas, who had just returned from injury, showed that he was not ready to play in a big match like today. Lucas kept losing the ball in midfield and did not do a good job of blocking, causing Liverpool's three-man defense to be attacked. Another former Arsenal player, Kolo Toure, was not much better because he lacked security in handling situations in front of the 16m50 box.

Liverpool became a shadow on the day Arsenal stars shined. Photo: Reuters.

Rodgers decided to bring Sturridge on at the start of the second half, but his appearance was too late to change the game. Liverpool played even more loosely than in the first half because they had to push their formation high up the pitch. Wenger only needed to bring on a player with the speed of Danny Welbeck to confuse Liverpool's defense. In the 84th minute, Welbeck was the one who caused Emre Can to receive a second yellow card and leave the field.

Emre Can's red card made things difficult for Liverpool as they had just scored a goal to reduce the score. Playing with one less man, Liverpool conceded a fourth goal with a left-footed strike from Giroud. This was the French striker's affirmation of his recent form that helped him win the Premier League Player of the Month award. This was the French striker's seventh goal in six consecutive matches in the top flight of the foggy country.

According to VnExpress