Arsenal leaves Anfield alive and retains lead | Soccer | Sports

Salah and Zinchenko fight for the ball during the duel between Liverpool and Arsenal.Jon Super (AP)

Arsenal left Anfield alive in the duel for the premiership lead. The team led by Mikel Arteta saved a closely fought draw (1-1) in a match where no one pressed the pause button. This is the competition in England, plunged into a frenzy in which there is no clear dominator and where the top of the table is tightened after a day in which Aston Villa gave up the option of reaching the first place, Tottenham narrows the gap after beating Everton. (2-1) and Manchester City, in the intercontinental competition, postponed a match against Brentford which could leave them four points behind Arsenal. All on the eve of non-stop party dates, those where the ball does not stop in the islands and a day where a turning point was marked because during the duel between Fulham and Burnley (0-2) for the first time in In the history of the premier category of English football, a referee was in charge, Rebecca Walsh, who already had experience in the Champions League, the European Cup or the Women’s World Cup.

1

Alisson, Virgil Van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Konstantinos Tsimikas (Joe Gomez, min. 34), Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones (Ryan Gravenberch, min. 67), Luis Díaz (Harvey Elliot, min. 67), Salah and Gakpo (Darwin Núñez, min. 67)

1

David Raya, Zinchenko, Gabriel, William Saliba, Ben White, Kai Havertz, Odegaard, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Martinelli (Trossard, min. 68) and Gabriel Jesus (Eddie Nketiah, min. 77)

Goals 0-1 min. 3: Gabriel. 1-1 minutes. 28: Salah.

Arbitrator Chris Kavanagh

Yellow cards Bukayo Saka (min. 38), Declan Rice (min. 48), Kai Havertz (min. 49), Salah (min. 84), Eddie Nketiah (min. 86) and Ben White (min. 90)

Anfield was once again the showcase of a league with unprecedented style. Football in England has definitely transformed into a back-and-forth affair that turns matches into a hectic and nerve-wracking exercise. This is how Liverpool presented the situation to Arsenal, who were not opposed to this challenge. Arteta’s team likes to run, but it’s Klopp who elevates this method. He thus constructed what he called Liverpool 2.0, a collective construction that he began to put together this summer with the replacement of his midfielders. Fabinho, Henderson, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Milner are gone. Also the great Bobby Firmino, who was actually the team’s playmaker. Thiago Alcántara stopped counting. Another Liverpool was born, that of Szoboslai, Endo, Gravenberch and even the injured Mac Allister. Another Liverpool that constantly presses and gallops, with the inimitable soul of the German strategic teams, which have no shortage of world-class footballers, but capable of subduing anyone.

Rebecca Welch became the first referee to officiate a Premier League match.Alastair Scholarship (AP)

They dominated Arsenal due to lack of control. Perhaps this influenced the fact that they marked the gunners starting with a header from Gabriel after an Odegaard free kick for Liverpool to run riot. Maybe the plan doesn’t follow the score either. The roll began, the high and suffocating pressure brought out the discomfort of Arsenal, who went through some trials to reach the goal, for example a penalty due to a handball from Odegaard which, incomprehensibly, remained in the limbo of VAR, or the equalization of Mohamed Salah after a poor defense by Zinchenko, which gave the Egyptian left-hander his privileged profile to take out the cannon. After half an hour, parity returned and, incredibly, the score did not change until the end.

The two teams faced each other down to the wire. The most important was Arsenal, who were almost eliminated by a Joe Gómez shot that went close to the post and, above all, by a stampede of Liverpool players that culminated in Alexander-Arnold’s shot against the bar transversal. You can’t blame those who give everything. Liverpool and Arsenal did it back-to-back for the most openly exciting championship in recent years. Liverpool, who a year ago were 14 points behind then-leader Arsenal, are back and with a new version that still sports scaffolding. Five teams are fighting for control of the Premier and among them is neither Manchester United nor expected, who lost (2-0) at West Ham United and did not score a goal in their last six hours of play. game.

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes in Facebook And Xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.