Arsenal takes Premier League lead after 1-0 win at Liverpool
A Kai Havertz goal broke a 14-year losing streak at Anfield, moving the Gunners to first place with a three-point cushion over Manchester City.
By Marta Gray ·
Arsenal moved to the top of the Premier League on Sunday with a 1-0 victory at Liverpool.
The win ends a 14-year drought for the visitors, who had not won at Anfield since 2012. That last victory came when Mikel Arteta, now the manager, played in the midfield.
Kai Havertz scored the only goal in the 16th minute. Declan Rice delivered a low cross from the right side of the box. Havertz tapped the ball in at the back post to give Arsenal the lead.
The goal stemmed from an error by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker. He attempted a short pass during a goal kick but Martin Odegaard intercepted the ball. Odegaard started a counterattack that led to the goal. Havertz now has 46 Premier League goals. That total makes him the all-time leading German scorer in the competition, surpassing Ilkay Gundogan.
Arsenal defended for the remainder of the match. The team kept its sixth clean sheet in nine games. Rice praised the group cohesion after the final whistle. He said, "In the end, that defensive line, the way we stick together, that togetherness we have, is undefeated. It’s nothing I’ve ever seen before."
The result gives Arsenal eight wins in the campaign. The team now leads Manchester City by three points. It also holds a five-point advantage over Brighton, which sits in third place. Brighton is the only team to beat the reigning champions this season.
Manchester City faces uncertainty after a guilty verdict for financial rule-breaking. The team lost its previous two league matches. It fell to Aston Villa last weekend and lost to Brighton on Saturday.
Liverpool dropped to fifth place. The defeat ends a five-game winning streak. The Reds had only lost once before this match, a 1-0 home loss to Manchester City on Oct. 11. They are now nine points behind Arsenal.
Liverpool struggled to create chances. Florian Wirtz hit the crossbar with a free kick in the first half. Alexis Mac Allister headed a shot over the bar. The team did not register a single shot on target in the entire match.
Dominik Szoboszlai described the inconsistent form of his side. He stated, "Some days it feels like we are at the top, and some days it feels like we are not even close. It takes time to get to the top."
Arsenal had been eliminated by fourth-tier Fleetwood Town in a penalty shootout just five days earlier. Arteta deployed a second-string team for that match on Tuesday. He returned his regular lineup for the trip to Liverpool. Alisson failed to save a curling shot from Christos Tzolis late in the game, but the early error defined the result.
Arteta acknowledged the unpredictability of the sport. He said, "This is the magical thing about football. It's so unpredictable, the next result."
