Online Reporter
LIVERPOOL. – Dominik Szoboszlai leathered home a 32-yard free-kick to settle the world’s most expensive game of cat and mouse at Anfield last night.
Two teams who had spent more than half a billion pounds between them could not be separated until the 83rd minute when stand-in right-back Szoboslai struck the winning blow. For Arne Slot’s champions, it was a third successive late win to leave them two points clear at the top of the pile.
And Liverpool, who have already shelled out £290million in this transfer window, could yet land Alexander Isak and Marc Guehi on deadline day tomorrow.
For Arsenal, it was a sickening finale after a strong defensive performance had threatened a third consecutive clean sheet.
In a game of few chances, £67.5m new boy Eberechi Eze − who arrived as second-half sub − had a late penalty shout turned down as Mikel Arteta’s side left it too late to breach a Liverpool defence, which had corrected their own early-season difficulties. Even in August, this was a fixture which felt it could be seriously significant in the title − a clash between last season’s top two and the two biggest spenders in world football this summer, who were defending the last remaining 100 per cent records in the Premier League.
While Arsenal arrived on the back of two clean sheets, the champions had tossed away two-goal leads in both of their previous matches only to win them late on.
It is now 13 years since Arsenal won a Premier League match at Anfield – Arteta was a Gunner player back then.
The Spaniard resisted the temptation to hand a start to Eze, despite Martin Odegaard only being fit enough to start on the bench after hurting his shoulder in the 5-0 drubbing of Leeds. − The Sun
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