Wasteful Arsenal crash out of FA Cup after 2:0 defeat to Liverpool
Wasteful Arsenal crash out of FA Cup after 2:0 defeat to Liverpool
Liverpool compounded Arsenal’s woes with a 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium to send the Gunners out of the FA Cup in the third round.
Mikel Arteta’s men have now failed to win their last four matches in all competitions, which has put their title hopes in jeopardy.
The Gunners missed numerous goalscoring chances against a Liverpool side without the services of Mohammed Salah and Virgil Van Dijk.
The hosts dominated the first half with Martin Odegaard hitting the crossbar before Kai Havertz and Reiss Nelson missed good opportunities to break the deadlock.
Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota also hit the cross bar for Liverpool in the first half as both sides failed to cancel out each other to end it goalless.
Liverpool scored two late goals to book their place in the fourth round of the competition.
Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick bounced in off Jakub Kiwior’s head for an own goal to put the Reds in the lead.
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Luis Diaz put the icing on the cake with an emphatic finish to condemn Arsenal to another defeat.
Arsenal manager, admitted that his side are not finishing off their chances.
He said, “Well, the performance was there and the amount of chances too,”
“We just have to win the game, but we lost it, and we are not capitalising. To win games, we need to capitalise.
“When you are better than the best team in Europe and you generate that amount of chances. I have not seen a team do it against them like we have done it.
“It is not enough. The reality is that it is not enough.”
The Spaniard has urged his team to be more efficient ahead of a busy schedule.
“Listen [do I say] play worse than Liverpool, be worse and we will win the game? When my team plays with this confidence what can I do? I am still behind them 100 per cent.
“It is what it is and we have to continue to play the same way and be more efficient,” he added.
Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp hailed his side fighting spirit after a tough clash at the Emirates.
He said, “In the end, we came through. I’m really happy we could win this game. Arsenal could have won it without a doubt. We finished it off, and it spoke for the character of the boys,”
“I’m super proud. It was a super difficult draw. Maybe the most difficult we could have got.
“It wasn’t an easy game to enjoy in the first half. We changed a bit at half-time.
“We were really in the game in the second half. We scored the goals and fought for 95 minutes.”
Up next for Arsenal is a Premier League clash against Crystal Palace on January 20, while Liverpool have a date with Fulham in the EFL Cup semi final first leg on Wednesday.
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