The scenario no one expected happened. The match that had a direct impact on the championship race was decided by mistakes. All four goals scored came from individual errors, three of which belonged to Liverpool.
Arsenal took full advantage of the opportunity to score three goals, thereby ending the highlight match of round 23 of the Premier League with a score of 3-1.
The “Gunners” ended Liverpool’s 11-match unbeaten streak in all competitions and narrowed the gap with their Merseyside rival to 2 points in the race to the Premier League throne (49 compared to 51).
Van Dijk had a forgettable day when he was at fault for all three of Liverpool’s goals.
In a tense match, Virgil van Dijk suddenly made a positional error in the 14th minute. He advanced too high and revealed a vast space behind him. Gabriel Martinelli comfortably ran down to face the goalkeeper after Martin Odegaard’s through ball. Even though he couldn’t win against Alisson Becker, Martinelli still opened up the opportunity for Bukayo Saka to kick into an empty net and open the score.
After having the advantage, Arsenal played with confidence. Declan Rice’s mobility helped the London team continuously break up Liverpool’s attacks. It seemed like the first half would end with the home advantage in favor, but William Saliba suddenly subjectively blocked the ball in the 45+3 minute. Luis Diaz took advantage of the opportunity to reach the goal. The ball hit Gabriel’s hand and went into the net before the helplessness of goalkeeper David Raya.
In the second half, Liverpool accelerated the attack and caused many difficulties for the home team. When the attacks could not find any more goals, Van Dijk once again made his mark with a blameworthy mistake. In the 67th minute, former Southampton midfielder and goalkeeper Alisson did not understand, so they let the ball drift to Martinelli’s feet. The young Brazilian star’s mission is just to score into an empty net, increasing the score to 2-1 for Arsenal.
For the rest of the match, coach Jurgen Klopp tried to make adjustments. However, the options he trusted, such as Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott, could not make a difference.
The hope of “The Kop” ended in the 88th minute. The away team had only 10 people left after Ibrahima Konate was sent off for the second yellow card. In the 90+2 minute, Leandro Trossard comfortably broke through from the wing, left, and then shot. The ball touched Van Dijk’s foot, changed direction, went through Alisson’s legs, and then fell into the net, thereby bringing the third goal to the host.