“We looked more ready to fight back” -Klopp after Arsenal 2-2 draw
Arsenal may be less pleased about the results of their match against Liverpool, but Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is proud of his side.
As Arsenal makes their Premier League title push, they nearly lost to seventh place Liverpool, but they also almost won before that. It was a game where anything could happen at any point. It looked typical in the first half, with two goals by Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus putting Arsenal on top in the first half while Liverpool was unable to stop them. But then Liverpool decided to fight, covering up the holes they displayed in the first half and Mohamed Salad and Roberto Firmino got two goals to equalize the game. The 2-2 draw kept Arsenal within six points of Manchester City, who have played one game less than them.
Klopp proud of his team after 2-2 draw
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he saw a fight in his team that he hadn’t seen in a long time. This season, they have conceded seven goals in the opening 10 minutes of the games, tied for the most in the Premier League with Bournemouth. But this time, they didn’t let it overwhelm them and keep them down.
“It’s the first time in a long time we reacted really well, we didn’t fall apart,” said Klopp. “That could have happened with everything that happened already this year, 1-0, 2-0, and then a next chance it’s 3-0. It didn’t happen because we looked better. We looked more ready in these moments to fight back.”
Salah had a chance to win the game on a penalty kick, but missed it. In fact, the last two penalties in the Premier League to miss the entire goal frame have been taken by Salah. As for whether or not he will continue to take penalty shots, Klopp said, “that’s something we will talk about, but not here.”
Arsenal and the Anfield curse
Perhaps “curse” is dramatic, but Arsenal tends to have a tough time playing at Anfield (they’re not the only ones). The Reds have not won a game at Anfield in the last 10 visits in the Premier League, losing seven and drawing three and have conceded at least twice in each of those games.
“When you concede at the end, it’s always two points dropped because you have it, and you’re suffering in certain moments,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. “The feeling is, ‘ah, we should have done it’, but being fair to ourselves, they had four big chances that they could have scored, and they missed the penalty.”
“Every single day is a test,” he continued. “The test now is how good we are going to be on Monday, and how well we prepare and play the way we want to play to beat West Ham.”