Statement win for Arsenal as they end long wait for Anfield glory and head to the top
Premier League
Liverpool (0) 0
Arsenal (1) 1 Havertz 16
It was the result of champions.
A magnificent defensive display coupled with oodles of discipline and heart saw the Gunners achieve a victory that has eluded them for so long in this corner of the north west.
It was a win to take them above Man City to the top of the table too - doubling the rewards.
Kai Havertz's early first half goal turned out to be just enough for the gritty Gunners who had backs to the wall in the first half but showed superb game management after the interval to win it.
It was 16 visits since the two wins at Anfield in 2012 - the last league triumphs in these parts. There was a League Cup win on penalties six years ago but league wins and ones over 90 minutes have been missing.
It did not take long for the game to spark into life. Arsenal probed and found the net after Martin Odegaard won possession and Noni Madueke fed Declan Rice on the overlap and his low cross was tapped in at the far post.
They might also have scored when Bruno Guimaraes fired low from an angle and a stretching Havertz almost got a toe to it, while a chip to the far post from the returning Christos Tzolis might have found a way past Alisson as Madueke and Timber converged on the ball.
But the Liverpool response was fast and furious and they had Arsenal hanging on for dear life. Alexis Mac Allister headed over a Milos Kerkez cross when it seemed easier to score. Florian Wirtz hit the underside of the bar with an almost perfectly judged free-kick from the left edge of the area.
Jurrien Timber was also fortunate a tug on Alexander Isak's shirt went unpunished but the bodies-on-the-line rearguard just about held firm.
The Gunners knew they'd be in for more of the same defending the Kop after the break. The hope was that the whirlwind created by Andoni Iraola's team would not be as fierce.
Dominic Szoboszlai, the man whose freakish free-kick defeated Arsenal at Anfield last season, came on after an hour to further test the resolve of Mikel Arteta's men.
The solution for survival was to get on the ball more and Myles Lewis-Skelly was summoned after a great shift from Bruno and he helped start a move that ended with Tzolis' sumptuous curling shot to the far bottom corner almost beating Alisson's left hand. The Brazilian stretched to make an excellent stop.
The final minutes were bound to be nerve-shredding, even if Arsenal had managed the half superbly to largely control it. But in the end, they managed to reduce Liverpool to moves of increasing desperation.
Reds: (4-2-3-1) Alisson - Araujo (Munoz 82), Jacquet, van Dijk, Kerkez (Tsimikas 66) - Mac Allister, Nyoni (Szoboszlai 58)- Barcola, Wirtz (Koumas 82), Gakpo (Ngumoha 67) - Isak
Gunners: (4-2-3-1) Raya - Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori - Rice, Bruno Guimaraes (Lewis-Skelly 62) - Madueke, Odegaard (Merino 88), Tzolis (Hincapie 84) - Havertz (Gyokeres 84)
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