LONDON: Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah tore Arsenal to shreds as Arsene Wenger’s team crashed to a humiliating 4-0 defeat at Anfield on Sunday.
The trio all found the net to condemn Arsenal to a second successive defeat after their 1-0 loss at Stoke City, which left them six points below early pace-setters Manchester United in 16th place.
Liverpool rose to second place, two points below United and one above champions Chelsea, who recorded a straightforward 2-0 win over Everton.
Tottenham Hotspur are two points further back in ninth place after their Wembley hoodoo resurfaced in a 1-1 draw at home to Burnley.
Arsenal’s defeat, and the toothless manner of their surrender, will once again raise questions about Wenger’s position, less than three months after the Frenchman signed a new two-year contract.
It was Arsenal’s heaviest league defeat since a 4-0 loss at Southampton in December 2015.
Wenger was able to hand Alexis Sanchez his first start of the season after an abdominal strain, but saw his side fall behind in the 17th minute when Joe Gomez crossed from the right for Firmino to head home.
Firmino turned provider in the 40th minute with a pass down the left to Mane, who cut inside Rob Holding before drilling a shot into the bottom-right corner.
It was 3-0 before the hour as Liverpool cleared a corner and Salah beat Hector Bellerin to a bouncing ball midway inside his own half before sprinting clear to tuck a shot past Petr Cech.
Sanchez, who has been strongly linked with a move away, was taken off just after the hour and looked a picture of misery as he took his seat on the bench, sinking his head between his legs.
Substitute Daniel Sturridge completed the scoring by heading in a cross from Salah in the 77th minute.
Alvaro Morata scored one goal and made another as Chelsea returned to winning ways at Stamford Bridge with a routine win over previously undefeated Everton.
Stunned 3-2 by Burnley in their opening home game, Chelsea took a 27th-minute lead when Cesc Fabregas steered a shot into the bottom corner from Morata’s knockdown.
Morata scored his second Chelsea goal five minutes before half-time, emphatically converting Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross with his head.
“We must be pleased with the performance,” Chelsea manager Antonio Conte told the BBC.
“We played a really good game. We dominated and had plenty of chances.
“The only negative thing is we should be more clinical. But there were a lot of positive things.”
Tottenham have now won just once in 11 games at the new Wembley after following up last weekend’s 2-1 loss to Chelsea with a frustrating draw against Burnley.
Dele Alli put Spurs ahead in the 49th minute after Burnley failed to clear a corner, but new striker Chris Wood earned Sean Dyche’s men a share of the spoils in stoppage time by applying a cool finish to Robbie Brady’s fine pass.
West Bromwich Albion’s 100 percent record came to an end as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Stoke City at The Hawthorns.
Jay Rodriguez’s diving header put West Brom in front just beyond the hour, but Stoke levelled 13 minutes from time when a miscued clearance by Ahmed Hegazi enabled substitute Peter Crouch to head into an empty net.
Liverpool thrashes Arsenal, Morata lifts Chelsea
Liverpool thrashes Arsenal, Morata lifts Chelsea
Chelsea paid for costly errors in Arsenal defeat, says Rosenior
LONDON: Liam Rosenior admitted Chelsea paid the price for costly mistakes after Arsenal took advantage of his side’s blunders to win 3-2 in the League Cup semifinal first leg on Wednesday.
Rosenior’s team face a tough task to set up a final against either Manchester City or Newcastle following their error-strewn display in their new manager’s first home match.
Chelsea were guilty of sloppy marking for Ben White’s early headed opener before goalkeeper Robert Sanchez gifted striker Viktor Gyokeres Arsenal’s second goal after half-time.
Alejandro Garnacho got one back for Chelsea but Martin Zubimendi then netted for Arsenal after more lacklustre defending from Rosenior’s men.
Substitute Garnacho’s second goal gave Chelsea a glimmer of hope heading into the second leg at the Emirates Stadium in February.
“Disappointed to concede from a corner. Disappointed with the third goal as well because we were right back in the game and we were on top at that moment,” Rosenior said.
“We switched off from a restart from a central free-kick but I can’t fault the players.
“We need to make sure we perform well individually and we don’t concede as many goals.”
Rosenior was without a host of key players, including Cole Palmer, Reece James and Liam Delap, due to injuries and illness.
‘It’s another step’
In his second game since replacing Enzo Maresca as Blues boss, the 41-year-old took heart from the way Chelsea kept fighting to find a way back into the tie.
“We’ve had illness in the squad, we’ve picked up a few knocks this week but what the squad has shown is that they are willing to run and fight for each other,” he said.
Rosenior, who oversaw a 5-1 FA Cup third-round win at Charlton in his debut last weekend, refused to condemn Sanchez for the latest in a long line of shaky performances.
“Rob’s a very good goalkeeper. He made an outstanding save at 3-1 to keep us in the tie, so for me load of things to improve but the overall attitude of the team I liked,” Rosenior said.
“Hopefully, we get a few bodies back for Brentford on Saturday.”
Arsenal are now unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions as they moved a step closer to their first silverware since the 2020 FA Cup.
The Gunners had lost their previous four semifinals across a variety of competitions, including the League Cup last year.
Mikel Arteta was impressed with Arsenal’s ability to subdue Chelsea for long periods, but he was left to rue their failure to kill off their London rivals.
“I have to praise the players for the performance against a really good opponents. It’s a really tough place to come. That’s why I really value what the team has done again,” Arteta said.
“We had two massive chances to score the fourth one and the result would have been very different. At that moment they created a chance and scored a goal. So it is a very different feeling. It’s game on.”
As well as leading the Premier League, Arsenal are also still chasing Champions League and FA Cup glory.
But after so many last-four failures in the recent past, Arteta won’t take anything for granted.
“It’s another step. It’s just half-time. We know the big fight we are going to have at the Emirates in a few weeks because they are a top side,” he said.
“What we’re doing every three days is impressive.”
