Szoboszlai's thunderbolt shoots down Arsenal

There is one unofficial rule in football which says that if you don’t use your chances, you will be punished. If we use this rule on games, and not chances, Liverpool was the prime candidate for a loss against Arsenal. The Reds played bad in the opening game against Bournemouth and had to be saved by Chiesa with a winning goal one minute from time. Liverpool had one man more on the field against Newcastle but conceded two and needed a 16-year old kid to give them victory deep in overtime. And today, they had their first shot in the 60th minute, they were the second best against Arsenal who were without Bukayo Saka and lost Wiliam Saliba within first five minutes of the game due to injury and yet they somehow managed to win. Three average games, and three wins. The one was given to them by Gunners keeper David Raya, who somehow allowed Szoboszlai to score a screamer from no less than 30 meters. Yes, the shot was magnificent, but it was still from afar and the Spanish keeper was even closer to the angle in which the ball went in. Arsenal looked better for much of the game and deserved at least a point, but the Lady Luck is (un)deservedly with the Reds.

The game couldn’t have started worse for Arsenal, who lost William Saliba due to injury after only five minutes! And with Ben White still not close to 100%, Valencia newcomer Mosquera had to come on, and he didn’t look either happy or confident to make his debut at Anfield. The Gunners decided to give possession to Liverpool and to look for their chances after a counter attack. The best chance which they got playing like that was in the 11th minute, when Martinelli started the attack but finished it terribly, with the ball going out of bounce without even being kicked on goal. The first half was dull and the fact that Arsenal had only one and Liverpool no shots on target reveals much. The only real opportunity for the hosts arrived through Arsenal’s keeper Raya who again delivered one risky pass in this own area which was intercepted by Van Dijk. Luckily for the Spaniard keeper, the Dutch defender didn’t do anything. Alisson had the only save in the first half, as he was quick to stop Madueke’s sharp volley and move the ball out of bounce for a corner kick.

The second half was equally boring until the near end and the first real chance for the England champion came after one hour. Wirtz suddenly had space to shot in the penalty area but only hit Raya directly. The Spaniard dropped the ball, Ekitike was there and the Spaniard tripped him, but there was no penalty as the linesman drew up his flag since Gakpo was in offside. Liverpool started passing much better and found themselves in the Arsenal penalty area more often. Gakpo even had a chance to shoot, but Raya was there. Arteta decided to react and introduced Odegaard along with Eze instead of Martinelli and Merino, but situation didn't change much. Instead, Liverpool got a rare free kick (actually the first one) near the penalty area and Szoboszlai had the audacity to shoot directly at the goal from that distance and he made it. Arsenal was desperate to equalize, but it didn't' happen. Eze went down in the penalty area after a contact with Gomez in the 85th minute, but the bar is set very high in the Premier League when it comes to penalties and since Gomez didn't hit Eze in the ankle or something, it was not given. The Gunners tried even with Raya as a striker in injury time but nothing worked, Liverpool got the victory.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 3

Saturday

Chelsea - Fulham 2-0 (1-0)

/Joao Pedro 45+9, Fernandez 56 pen/

Man. United - Burnley 3-2 (1-0)

/Cullen 27 (og), Mbeumo 57, Bruno 90+7 pen - Foster 55, Anthony 66/

Sunderland - Brentford 2-1 (0-0)

/Le Fee 82 pen, Isidor 90+6 - Thiago 77/

Tottenham - Bournemouth 0-1 (0-1)

/Evanilson 5/

Wolverhampton - Everton 2-3 (1-2)

/Hwang 21, Gomes 79 - Beto 7, Ndiaye 33, Dewsbury-Hall 55/

Leeds - Newcastle 0-0

Sunday

Brighton - Man.City 2-1 (0-1)

/Milner 67(p), Gruda 89 - Haaland 34/

Nott.Forest - West Ham 0-3 (0-0)

/Bowen 84, Paqueta 88(p) Wilson 90+1/

Liverpool - Arsenal 1-0 (0-0)

/Szoboszlai 83/

21.00: (1.95) Aston Villa (3.50) Crystal Palace (3.90)

***odds are subject to change***