Martinelli shows why Trent battle was built up by everyone including Klopp
Martinelli #Martinelli
There are 15 more conclusions from Arsenal v Liverpool to follow in due course, but one jumped out earlier than anyone could have expected at the Emirates.
A lot of the pre-match talk was about Gabriel Martinelli against Trent Alexander-Arnold, and that battle didn’t disappoint. In fact, it only took 58 seconds to show why so many people were discussing it.
Every time Arsenal and Liverpool face off Jurgen Klopp tends to sing the praises of Gabriel Martinelli, and this week was no different as he pretty much tipped the Brazilian to expose his under-fire right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold.
It took less than a minute for everyone to realise, if they hadn’t twigged before, that Alexander-Arnold was in for a rough afternoon. Martin Odegaard slotted the ball perfectly in between the England defender and his team-mate Joel Matip for Martinelli to squeeze the ball past Alisson in the Liverpool goal to send the Emirates into rapture and Arsenal on their way to a landmark victory.
As anticipated, Mikel Arteta set up his team to take advantage of a fragile Alexander-Arnold and this was something that was happening time and time again in the first half.
Hurting the Reds on the counter was something Martinelli was able to do at will as he used his blistering pace to reach the ball before the also very fast Luis Diaz, who tripped the Arsenal man to take a wise yellow card.
Despite the incredible start made by Arteta’s men, it was an opening 45 minutes in which Liverpool looked the better side and showed that they should not be underestimated despite a lacklustre start to the campaign.
Darwin Nunez looked dangerous and was a constant pest to Aaron Ramsdale in goal and Gabriel in centre-half with his pressing.
While Trent was a player who Arsenal looked to expose, Gabriel was potentially one that Klopp told his players to target. The Brazilian could have given away a penalty for a handball, but it was rightly not given before a hopeful Alexander-Arnold launch was poorly defended by the Gunners man as Diaz raced down the right flank to square it to Nunez who took the chance to get a deserved goal.
Despite the amount of the ball Liverpool had, Arsenal and Martinelli were able to put Alexander-Arnold under pressure and ask plenty of questions when they could.
Trent was somehow able to shake off what looked like a match-ending ankle injury after a follow-through from Martinelli, but he was unable to shut down the tricky 21-year-old.
At the other end of the pitch, Takehiro Tomiyasu was doing a number on Mohamed Salah, who was anonymous before being substituted in the second half, and Benjamin White continued his solid start to the campaign at right-back, showing Gareth Southgate that he deserves a place on the plane to Qatar.
Just as Arsenal were looking to go into half time holding on to a 1-1 draw, Liverpool wasted a set-piece opportunity and the Gunners punished them on the counter.
Martinelli sized up Jordan Henderson and Trent was in a decent position in between the Reds captain and Kostas Tsimikas before losing all discipline by trying to take matters into his own hands, assuming the man who always cuts in would not do just that.
The Brazilian did and found Bukayo Saka lurking at the back post. The England star was at full stretch to poke home and give Arsenal a pretty undeserved lead going into the break.
Half time came around and Klopp had seen enough. Alexander-Arnold was substituted, with Joe Gomez coming on to play right-back. Perhaps the ankle injury forced him off or perhaps Klopp did what he had to do to get a result and hooked him.
It perhaps could have been a mixture of both, with the German manager using the knock as the perfect opportunity to make the change, as the lack of an injury combined with Alexander-Arnold’s poor performance could have sent all the wrong messages to the player and fans.
Trent’s attempt to halt Martinelli for Saka’s goal was… confusing. Is he trying too hard to prove he can defend? Has his head simply gone? Did he want to be the hero and shut everyone up for a bit? Only he knows. He might just be a bit s**t at defending. That’s surely it.
Gomez came on and a similar pass for the first goal was played through to Martinelli, though the Liverpool defender dealt with him with a bit more brutality, emphasised by his shoulder barge by the touchline midway through the second half.
The Brazil international continued to have joy for the full match even with Trent watching with his hood up sat on the bench.
Roberto Firmino – who came on for the injured Diaz in the 42nd minute – equalised for Liverpool with an excellent finish past Aaron Ramsdale and it looked like the Reds would be in a position to take all three points.
The heavy-metal Reds never built on that equaliser, however. It was Saka who did, getting his third league goal of the season and second of the match, this time from the penalty spot after Thiago kicked Gabriel Jesus.
It was pretty even between Saka’s 76th-minute goal and the final whistle, though Ramsdale was not forced to make any testing saves.
Paul Merson said before last week’s north London derby that wins against Tottenham and Liverpool would make Arsenal title contenders and here we are.
They do look like they are a shoo-in to finish in the top four at the very least and Manchester City will be bloody hard to topple, especially with Erling Haaland scoring a hat-trick every game, but they look set to finish above Liverpool this season with Klopp’s side the 18th oldest in the division, while Arsenal are the second youngest. By the end of this one, both teams looked their age.
Martinelli is a player who would have been able to slot into Liverpool’s peak squad and his man of the match performance while Trent had a nightmare was poetry given the pre-match hype.
Liverpool’s age showed while the two 21-year-olds ran the show and put the Gunners 14 points ahead of Klopp’s side whose race might be run.
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