Klopp baffled by penalty shout, Arteta content after his 'most intense game'
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (left) and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp embrace after the final whistle in the Premier League match at Anfield, Liverpool. Picture: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.
ARSENAL won the battle to be Christmas number one, Gabriel Jesus and Mo Salah traded the goals and Mikel Arteta called it one of the most intense games he had seen in 20 years of Premier League football.
The same could yet be said about the 2024 title race, judging by the way the top of the table looks ahead of the festive period.
But after 90 pulsating, breathless minutes at Anfield, the case could be made that the real winners of the evening were jetting on their way back from Saudi Arabia - new FIFA Club World Cup champions Manchester City.
The defending champions got the result they were looking for out of the meeting between two of the, arguably, five clubs that could be battling it out for first place over the next five months.
"An unbelievable game of football, one of the most intense I've witnessed in 20 years in this league,” said the Arsenal manager. “For many moments we were on top, in the last 20 minutes we wanted it more, but a draw is a fair result.
"I'm happy to be where we are. Tomorrow we have a beautiful dinner with our families, then back to work."
The game did not fail to live up to the pre-match hype, with Arsenal making an electrifying start; Bukayo Saka forcing Alisson into a save inside 30 seconds and Jesus heading them in front on four minutes.
But Liverpool recovered from the blitz of a start and, after Martin Odegaard was very fortunate to survive a penalty appeal for handball after 19 minutes, the Reds equalised just before the half-hour.
It came from a stunning long pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold, which isolated Salah against Oleksandr Zinchenko, a match-up which weighed very heavily in the Liverpool man’s favour.
Salah simply cut into the area, past the terrified defender, and deposited a blistering shot that was so well struck it beat David Raya at his near post.
It was a good response from Klopp’s men after they had looked shaky, at least defensively, in the opening minutes.
That was evident when Odegaard swung over a free-kick and with Cody Gakpo playing the Arsenal forwards onside, Jesus rose to send a brilliant finish past Alisson for the opening goal.
Liverpool quickly recovered and rose into the ascendancy although their plans were upset after 34 minutes in freak circumstances, when Saka nudged Kostas Tsimikas out of play and the full-back took down Klopp as he rolled out of play.
Comical as it may have looked, the fall badly hurt Tsimikas’s shoulder and the Greek international was taken to hospital for x-rays which confirmed a broken collarbone.
Joe Gomez replaced him on the night, and will for the foreseeable future, with first choice Andy Robertson still injured, a blow to Klopp’s squad rotation plans.
But it was a rare negative on the night for Klopp, along with the VAR decision not to award a handball against Odegaard when Arsenal still led 1-0.
"Yes I have seen it. I am pretty sure someone will come to explain it to me why it was not a handball but I don't know how,” said Klopp.
"I don't say that the ref can see it because I don't know where he was in that moment. But how can a guy in an office see that and not come to the conclusion that maybe, possibly it could be worth the referee having another look?"
As for Tsmikas’s sad injury, Klopp was especially upset that he had played an unwitting role in the injury.
"Of course it affected me,” said Klopp. “I had no pain but thought maybe Kostas was going to be fine.
“I would happily give my collarbone for him to be fit again. It is not cool when something like that happens in front of you and you are involved in that, I was not sure what even happened or if I fell on him. It is not nice to see.”
What was also nice for Klopp to see - and hear - was Anfield back to its uproarious best after the manager had questioned the atmosphere at the famous old stadium in midweek.
The ground roared and shook as Liverpool looked the more likely to score a third goal, with substitute Harvey Elliott coming close, his long shot deflecting off Gabriel and clipping the Liverpool post.
Neither side was settling for a point and, as Arsenal pressed at a corner, Salah launched an astonishing counter-attack, that saw Liverpool enjoy a five-on-two advantage, but his pass to Alexander-Arnold ended with the full-back striking the crossbar.
“First and foremost I have to say, after what I said in the last week, thank you Anfield,” said Klopp. “That was exceptional.
"Arsenal are really exceptional but for those 20 minutes in the second half we had them, we shattered them slightly. We felt that they were shaky and we should have used that."
Whether the current leaders are equally shaky in terms of the league standings over the coming months, only time will tell but the first half of the season - and the quality and intensity at Anfield - suggest we are in for one of the great title races of all-time.
Alisson 6; Alexander-Arnold 8, Konate 7, van Dijk 6, Tsimikas 6 (Gomez 34, 5); Szoboszlai 7, Endo 7, Jones 6 (Gravenberch 68, 5); Salah 7, Gakpo 6 (Nunez 67, 5), Diaz 5 (Elliott 67, 5).
): Clark, McConnell, Kelleher, Quansah, Bradley.
Raya 5; White 6, Saliba 9, Gabriel 6, Zinchenko 4; Odegaard 7, Rice 7, Havertz 6; Saka 8, Jesus 7 (Nketiah 77), Martinelli 5 (Trossard 68, 5).
Ramsdale, Smith Rowe, Kiwior, Soares, Jorginho, Nelson, Elneny.
C Kavanagh 7
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