Moments you may not have spotted during Liverpool’s Premier League game against Arsenal on Sunday
Liverpool maintained their impressive start to the season with a hard-earned Premier League draw at Arsenal on Sunday afternoon. Mohamed Salah equalised nine minutes from time after Virgil van Dijk had earlier levelled for a first time as the Reds battled out a 2-2 draw.
The result was the first stalemate of the Arne Slot reign with his team now having fallen behind new leaders Manchester City, although they have maintained a four-point gap to the third-place Gunners.
But there was plenty that went unnoticed or under the radar during the 90 minutes at Anfield…
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Slot seethes
It has taken a little while. But now Slot is starting to experience the very particular brand of Premier League officiating to which he will soon be fully accustomed.
After John Brooks prompted animated touchline reactions last weekend against Chelsea, this time it was Anthony Taylor who left Slot with his head in his hands in complete disbelief after penalising Luis Diaz for a first-half challenge with Thomas Partey.
The Liverpool head coach may have been justified in his complaints if it weren’t for the fact perception states only Arsenal can claim any wrong decisions during the game. Apparently.
Nunez discussion
Liverpool most certainly did not cover themselves in glory at times during a difficult first half, not least the manner in which they conceded two cheap goals.
And while Andy Robertson was at fault for Bukayo Saka’s opener, there was an on-field exchange further upfield at the failure to close down Ben White before he launched the ball from deep towards the Arsenal winger.
Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez, with the latter the nearest to the defender, could be seen having a frank few words as the home team celebrated.
Dennis the menace
There were plenty of former Arsenal great and good in and around the stadium on Sunday. And that’s without taking the legendary figure of club mascot Gunnersaurus into consideration.
Title-winning Gunners goalkeepers David Seaman and Bob Wilson were both spotted but the biggest buzz surrounded Dennis Bergkamp. And he showed he had lost none of his famed creativity when asked what he recalled of assisting Thierry Henry for a goal in a previous Arsenal win over Liverpool.
“Who?” came the response. As with the ball at his feet, timing is everything for the Holland icon.
Cody the comic
There was another whimsical moment after the game in the mixed zone, the area where the media occasionally are able to persuade a player to stop and have a chat for a few moments.
Cody Gakpo duly obliged and was almost done discussing the afternoon when the final question came in asking what message Slot had given his players at half-time to help turn the game around.
“I have no idea, I was out on the pitch warming up!” deadpanned the Dutchman, much to the amusement of everyone in attendance. Who ever said the Dutch weren’t funny?