LONDON, England – Leandro Trossard, an English Premier League midfielder for Arsenal, celebrates with teammates after scoring his team’s third goal against Liverpool on February 4, 2024, at the Emirates Stadium in London. 

Arsenal’s vital 3-1 victory over Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday, which boosted the Gunners’ title prospects, was praised by Mikel Arteta as “ruthless.”

Thanks to a strong showing at the Emirates Stadium and a fortunate mix-up between Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker and defender Virgil van Dijk, Arteta’s second-placed team closed the gap on Liverpool to two points.

Bukayo Saka gave Arsenal the early lead, but Gabriel Magalhaes’ own goal late in the first half pulled Arsenal back.

But after the break, Liverpool gave Arsenal the win they deserved when Alisson rushed off his line to deal with a long ball and failed to clear it, and Van Dijk also failed to respond in time, allowing Gabriel Martinelli to slot into the empty net.

Prior to Leandro Trossard’s stoppage-time goal, which went between Alisson’s legs after bouncing off Van Dijk, causing Arteta to go into a frenzy, Liverpool had Ibrahima Konate sent off in the final moments.

Arsenal seemed like they would collapse after suffering losses to Liverpool in the FA Cup third round and West Ham and Fulham in the league over the Christmas break.

But with their invaluable three points, Arteta understands they have completely opened up the title fight.

He declared, “It feels like a big win and we were ruthless when we had a chance.”

“With their current level of play, Liverpool is arguably the best team in Europe. They are a fantastic team.”

“Now that we’ve made such progress, it just needs to be done consistently.” Liverpool has been doing this for the past six or seven years.

We get impetus from it, and thanks to our approach, we are back on track. I’m very happy about it.

Arteta said that he was aware of the importance of defeating Liverpool, who with a win would have moved eight points clear of the Gunners.

“We were unable to feel sorry for ourselves”

He remarked, “It was a big game that was going to determine where we are and where we’re going to be.”

“The players’ output was outstanding. The way we conceded hurt, especially considering how well we played and the opportunities we generated in the first half.

There was a lot at stake, so we had to act; we could not sit back and feel sorry for ourselves. We left and had several hardships.

“In essence, the message was that we would face challenges and that we must overcome them. We will enjoy it tonight because we put a lot of effort into winning it.

Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, declined to hold Alisson accountable for the crushing loss.

It merely demonstrates the lads’ humanity. We were truly human today. We gave them every advantage,” he remarked.

Van Dijk said, “I take full responsibility for that,” in defense of Alisson. That is a pivotal point in the match.

“I ought to have chosen my path more carefully. Alisson made slight contact with me and was unable to remove it. I ought to have attempted to remove it.

After Liverpool’s September Premier League loss to Tottenham, the team’s first domestic loss in all competitions, Klopp acknowledged he had no grievances with the outcome.

“To Arsenal, congratulations. Today, we fell short of expectations. He stated, “We can say they deserved the points.”

“We managed to get into the game. We had no shots on goal, yet we still won. We had our moments in the second half, but we let that goal slip. That is not beneficial.

They were superior to us in several aspects and scored goals. It’s obvious that we need to improve our football game. We didn’t play the game with enough involvement.