Premier League: Unai Emery’s Arsenal revival project showed promising signs in crackling encounter against Liverpool

A bubbling Emirates Stadium with a spirited home side and staunch visitors — Arsenal and Liverpool produced a crackling encounter as they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw on Saturday, taking Liverpool to top of the Premier League table (at least until Manchester City play) and Arsenal to within one point of the fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Since their consecutive losses to Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal had gone on a nine-game unbeaten run in the league, Unai Emery putting his plans into action, slowly reforming the way the Gunners approach a game. Liverpool was the ultimate test for Emery’s Arsenal project, still in its nascent phase. To say that the Gunners passed with flying colours would be a stretch, but the signs were promising. [caption id=“attachment_5501941” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Liverpool. AFP[/caption] Arsenal started brightly, starving Liverpool of possession and creating early chances. While Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s shot was deflected by Joe Gomez, Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s header went inches above the post stunning the away support who have only been accustomed to winning this season, for Liverpool have remained unbeaten since the start of the season for the first time since 2007-08. Arsenal’s flourishing start, however, did not mean much for their defensive frailties as they could have been behind as early as the eighteenth minute if Sadio Mane’s strike was not wrongly judged to have been offside. Mane, albeit offside in the initial phase of play when Roberto Firmino’s shot hit the frame, tapped in from an onside position but the goal was disallowed nonetheless. It would prove to be crucial in the later stages when Arsenal would mount an inspiring comeback to snatch away two points off the Kops. Liverpool, in spite of their frequently misfiring attack in the early stages of the season, created more clear-cut opportunities than the hosts. Playing on the counter and pressing high up the pitch, Jurgen Klopp’s men encountered resistance from the Gunners with a similar style of play — Arsenal’s pivot of Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira dictated play while the top-heavy attacking unit of Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil and Mkhitaryan complemented Lacazette’s poise and guile. Liverpool ended the game with just 38 percent possession, lesser than they had during their match against Manchester City — a sheer testament to Arsenal’s resolve and especially Torreira’s influence over the proceedings. A half-time switch to 4-2-3-1 for Klopp’s men levelled the playing field as Arsenal’s midfield dominance was negated to some extent. Liverpool’s goal at the 61st minute came through a stroke of luck as Bernd Leno’s poor clearance fell upon James Milner who volleyed it into the back of the net with a thunderous strike. Liverpool were ahead against the tide of play and for Arsenal, it seemed history was repeating itself as they once again fizzled out against a ‘top six’ rival after an encouraging start to the game. Instead, the Gunners picked up pace as the spectators were rewarded with an engrossing spectacle — an already high-tempo game evolved into a riveting one as Liverpool didn’t manage to take control in spite of their solitary goal lead. Liverpool came closer to extending their lead through Firmino and Virgil van Dijk, the latter missing out on a hat-trick of good chances throughout ninety minutes. “We had the biggest chances in the game. We had empty goals and we didn’t use it. If you want to win at Arsenal, you should use these kind of chances. I know they had chances as well but I think we had the bigger ones,” Klopp opined, also pointing out the fact that a draw at the Emirates is “always a good result”. The game might have been Liverpool’s for the taking, but Arsenal fought their way back into it through sheer resolve and a couple of clever substitutions from Emery. Alex Iwobi, in particular, had a huge impact after he came on — initially on the wing and later as a makeshift left-back, allowing Emery to plug in all his attacking conduits — Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck in search of that equaliser. It was Iwobi’s pass which allowed Lacazette to run in behind the Liverpool defence although he had to manoeuvre the ball away from the goal in order to starve off an approaching Allison Becker, the Frenchman displaying the absolute best of his skillset as he precisely placed the ball into the far corner, leading to boisterous celebrations from his team and the home support. “We have the intensity and now we need more quality,” Emery said after the game. “This was a good test for us. We need more work tactically. The spirit was what we want and the atmosphere (in the Emirates) was big,” the Arsenal manager added, his pride in his team reflecting through. Arsenal surely have come up a long way from the days when they simply rolled over and allowed their opponents to maraud over them at the first sign of trouble, but they still need to cover an equal distance to finally put an end to the depressing run of just three wins in 28 matches against ‘top six’ rival clubs. Until then, it will be a work-in-progress for Emery and his men.