Arsenal Rally from Two Down to Hold Liverpool as Ten-Man Gunners Steal the Headlines at Anfield

Anfield witnessed a tale of two halves as Arsenal clawed back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw against champions Liverpool, despite Mikel Merino’s late dismissal. The hosts looked rampant early on: Cody Gakpo’s close-range header—his 10th league strike—was quickly followed, 87 seconds later, by Luis Díaz sliding home his eighth. At that point Liverpool boasted 54 percent possession, a pass accuracy of 89 percent, and seven shots on target, suggesting a routine victory.

Yet Mikel Arteta’s men emerged rejuvenated. Gabriel Martinelli halved the deficit with a darting header from Leandro Trossard’s cross, registering a top speed of 59 mph and marking his ninth Premier League goal. Just seven minutes later, Merino reacted fastest after Alisson tipped Martin Ødegaard’s effort onto the bar, poking in his first for the club to push his shots-on-target ratio to 37 percent this term.

The Spaniard soon turned villain when a reckless lunge saw him sent off—his second red in three appearances—shifting momentum again. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s introduction was met by audible boos from sections of the Kop unhappy with his confirmed summer departure, but the full-back nearly silenced critics by rattling the post with Liverpool’s best late chance. Andy Robertson thought he’d stolen it in stoppage time, only for VAR to chalk his effort off for an Ibrahima Konaté foul.

Liverpool, now unable to hit the 90-point mark for a third straight campaign, stay top on 82. Arsenal move to 71, extending their unbeaten away sequence to six and sitting four points shy of mathematically clinching a top-five berth.

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