Liverpool thrash sorry Arsenal 5-1 at Anfield

Sports - Football - Premier League - Liverpool 5:1 Arsenal

Liverpool thrashed Arsenal 5-1 in an unforgettable lunch-time clash at Anfield. Brendan Rodgers' men came into the match all guns blazing, stunning the Gunners with four goals in the opening 20 minutes.

Martin Skrtel opened the scoring after just 51 seconds, whipping in Steven Gerrard's free kick, totally unmarked inside the six-yard box, sending the ball past a helpless Wojciech Szczesny with his knee.

And the Slovakian defender double the score under nine minutes later, heading the skipper's corner into the top corner over the jumping Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the line.

The Reds looked dangerous every time they went forward, especially on the wings, and should have been 3-0 up on 12 minutes when Daniel Sturridge chipped a golden chance wide after Luis Suarez sent him clear on goal.

The Uruguayan forward saw his shot smack off the post seconds later for Kolo Toure to stab the rebound wide.

But moments later, Liverpool's top scorer picked out Raheem Sterling with a perfect pass to give the young winger a simple finish at the far post to make it 3-0.

And three minutes later, Philippe Coutinho found Sturridge with a perfect cross behind Laurent Koscielny for the striker to slot it home nice and easy to make it 4-0.

Arsene Wenger's men were beaten after 20 minutes, enjoyed more possession in the second half, but fired nothing but blanks.

Liverpool made it five on 52 minutes when Sterling broke clear on goal and netted the rebound after Szczesny saved his initial effort.

Arsenal did get a consolation goal, much to the amusement of the traveling fans, after winning a penalty when Gerrard brought down Oxlade-Chamberlain in the box. Mikel Arteta converted the kick and pulled a late - and only - save out of Simon Mignolet.

But it was too little, too late, and did not mask the embarrassment and one clear thing: this was Liverpool's day and the result smashed the Premier League title race all open again!

Liverpool Goals: 1.& 2.: 0:51 & 9:28min Martin Skrtel (37), 3.: 16:00min Raheem Sterling (31), 4.: 19:17min Daniel Sturridge (15), 5.: 51:07min Raheem Sterling (31).

Arsenal Goals: 1.: 68:25min Mikel Arteta (8) penalty.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet; 20 Cissokho, 4 Toure, 37 Skrtel, 38 Flanagan; 10 Coutinho, 8 Gerrard, 14 Henderson (booked 47.min); 31 Sterling, 15 Sturridge (24 Allen- 66.min), 7 Suarez (9 Aspas- 86.min). 4-3-3

Subs not used: 1 Jones, 6 Luis Alberto, 12 Moses, 34 Kelly.

Arsenal Team: 1 Szczesny; 17 Monreal (28 Gibbs- 61.min), 6 Koscielny, 4 Mertesacker, 3 Sagna; 10 Wilshere (booked 59.min), 8 Arteta; 19 Cazorla, 11 Özil (7 Rosicky- 61.min), 15 Oxlade-Chamberlain; 12 Giroud (booked 47.min) (9 Podolski- 60.min). 4-2-3-1

Subs not used: 21 Fabianski, 23 Bendtner, 25 Jenkinson, 44 Gnabry.

Opta Match Stats: Liverpool-Arsenal

(Attack)

Attempts: 22-11

On target: 12-6

Blocked: 1-4

From outside the box: 7-7

From inside the box: 15-4

Shot accuracy: 57.1%-85.7%

(General Play)

Possession: 42.7%-57.3%

Duels won: 53.8%-46.2%

Aerials won: 41.7%-58.3%

Interceptions: 10-11

Offsides: 4-0

Corners: 6-6

(Distribution)

Total passes: 373-497

Long passes: 15.5%-7%

Passing accuracy: 78.8%-87.1%

Passing accuracy oppositional half: 63.8%-79.8%

Total crosses: 16-20

Successful crosses: 31.3%-20%

(Defence & Discipline)

Tackles: 35-16

Tackles won: 85.7%-75%

Clearances: 37-38

Fouls conceded: 14-14

Yellow cards: 1-2

Red cards: 0-0

Referee: Michael Oliver

Attendance: 44,701

Man of the match: Raheem Sterlinghttp

Week 11: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

WOW!

It was a surprise to see Olivier Giroud not step up for Arsenal's spot kick which would have won his side the game and bagged himself a hat-trick against local rivals Fulham. OK, maybe I would not have picked this out if Mikel Arteta had hit the back of the net and converted the penalty, but, and that is a big but, as a football player, what is your main aim? Score and win, no?


OMG!

Aston Villa started so well and United were nowhere when the home side went 2-0 up in the second half. But that seemed to have caused some kind of switch on or turnaround for United and they turned the game on its head. Andreas Weimann scored either side of the interval to give the home side an unlikely lead, but half-time substitute Javier Hernandez scored twice and saw another shot turned into his own net by Ron Vlaar to keep United at the top of the Premier League.

TOP!

Dimitar Berbatov starred for Fulham against Arsenal at the Emirates! It was a feisty and juicy London derby, no disappointment. Six goals and plenty more talking points. After a bright start by the visitors it was the Gunners who took the lead thanks to Giroud and Lukas Podolksi doubled their score half way through the first half. But the Cottagers were never lacking in fight or threat and pulled one back on 29 thanks to Berbatov's header. And just before half time, the ground was muted when Berbatov moved freely onto the ball leading to Alex Kacaniklic who headed in the equaliser. The second half was just as entertaining and after some dreadful defending by Arteta, the Spaniard brought down Bryan Ruiz in the box and Berbatov gratefully converted the spot kick to give his side the lead. It did not last long though and minutes later Giroud equalised for the Gunners and as mentioned above, could have grabbed the winner late on, but it was not ment to be. It ended up 3-3 and was a smacker of a game!

FLOP!

Reading are still looking for their first Premier League win of the season and after their goalless draw with Norwich at the Madejski stadium, I cannot see where it will come from! Both sides struggled to create anything, the home side unable to convert set pieces and the visitors showing some fine creativity and craftsmanship in the buildup without any end product in the final third. It was a disappointment for the eye of the spectator and the record of both sides. Reading are hovering just over the relegation zone on nine points in 17th place, only goal difference serperating them from Villa in 18th. Norwich have a bit more breathing space on 14 points in 13th.

HERO!

It seems like I am writing the same thing week in and week out under this category! Luis Suarez and Edin Dzeko were the saviours for their sides once again. Like it or not, Liverpool would be nowhere/even worse off then where they are now (13th) and if he likes to be branded that or not, Dzeko is THE super-sub for City against Tottenham. Liverpool had loads of chances once again but could in the end be glad to leave Stamford Bridge with the point.

ZERO!

Once again, the referees' inconsistencies were very annoying and irritating this weekend! What one official interprets and penalises as a dive against the one side, another will give it as a fowl against the other. Same with hand balls, some give it as a fowl, some ignore it as inadvertent, unavoidable accident. Ok, they are only human and cannot see everything. Players cover players, blocking the view. And the game can build up such a speed a referee cannot keep up. But what about the linesmen?! Is that not what theyr are there for? To help the referee? Sometimes it seems like they just don't have the guts to make the right decision with all the players on their case. And other times it seems like they just want to make a point against (a) certain player(s) eventhough they are not sure or know they are not in the right! I beg for video officials to be introduced to cut this crap out! So the referees can finallz see what they miss out and the players can finally be put on the spot for their idiotic acts and drama scenes!

*All images are taken from the Sky Sports website's match reports apart from Mark Schwarzer's picture, taken from the BBC website's match report

My Predictions => Actual Results:
Arsenal 0-0 Fulham => 3-3
Everton 2-0 Sunderland => 2-1
Reading 1-1 Norwich => 0-0
Southampton 0-2 Swansea => 1-1
Stoke 2-1 QPR => 1-0
Wigan 2-1 West Brom => 1-2
Aston Villa 1-3 Man United => 2-3
Man City 3-2 Tottenham => 2-1
Newcastle 2-1 West Ham => 0-1
Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool => 1-1