A depleted Liverpool side battled hard to record a deserved 2-0 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup on Sunday at the Emirates.
Even though Mikel Arteta’s side were the better team in the first half and should have, at least, scored two goals, they went into the break goalless, which would prove to be costly.
Liverpool came out in the second half a different animal, fought harder, and got a breakthrough with ten minutes left on the clock when Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior headed into his own net, before Luis Diaz sealed the cherry on the cake in stoppage-time.
Virgil van Dijk missed tonight’s action because of illness, with Jarell Quansah and Man of the Match, Ibrahima Konate, starting at the heart of Liverpool’s defence instead.
They put in a stellar display, with Virgil van Dijk taking to his Instagram story after the match and reacting to the win.
The ice-cool defender simply wrote: ‘Come on the boys. Let’s go’, added with a heart emoji, whilst Wataru Endo, who is on international duty with Japan, added by posting a flexed arm, fire and heart emoji on his own Instagram story.
Liverpool without key players
This is a statement of intent from Liverpool because it’s a win against their Premier League title rivals in the FA Cup and also when their squad is significantly weaker.
There was no van Dijk, Dominik Szoboszlai, Endo, Joel Matip, Kostas Tsimkas, Andy Robertson, Thiago Alcantatra, and some bloke called, Mohammed Salah.
Yet, with Arsenal fielding a pretty strong XI, barring the injured Gabriel Jesus, not only were they beaten, but they failed to score once again!
All in all, it’s not a good look for the Gunners, who are already slipping down the Premier League table after suffering back-to-back defeats in the league.
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