Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates last night thanks to second-half goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino, the win moves the Reds to within one point of Manchester City.
Arsenal’s hopes for the top four took a hit last night after the defeat, but it was a bright first half for Mikel Arteta’s side as they came close through Martin Odegaard who tested Alisson after a poor backpass from Thiago, but it was Jota who opened the scoring slotting past Aaron Ramsdale to give the Reds the lead.
Jota and Luis Diaz were then replaced by Mohamed Salah and Firmino, the latter doubling Liverpool’s lead after a pinpoint cross from Andy Robertson just after the hour mark that allowed them to see out the game comfortably, with the Reds having somewhat of a swagger about them.
When speaking to Match of the Day Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp sounded on cloud nine after the victory, “Coming here and winning against Arsenal is already special but winning the game like it was – more special.
“We started really well then it became an open game.
“We wanted to improve in the second half.
“I’m very excited about the team and the situation we are in but that does not change everything.
“We just need to keep going.
“We really want to enjoy the situation we are in by winning football matches.”
Despite the loss Arteta was pleased with his sides performance when speaking to Match of the Day, “I think the whole team played fantastically well.
“I don’t think the result reflects the performance, but in the box they had the decisive moments.
“They put the ball in the net twice.”
Liverpool have now won nine games in a row; reigniting the Premier League title race after Manchester City seemed to have walked away with the league in January being 13 points clear at the top of the table after beating closest rivals at the time Chelsea 1-0.
Klopp’s side are still yet to face City at the Etihad however, in what is looking like a title deciding game on the 10th April.
With the Reds still pushing for the quadruple this season after victory in the Carabao Cup three weeks ago, they currently await the Champions League draw on Friday and an FA Cup match against Nottingham Forest over the weekend.
Prior to their defeat Arsenal had won their last five matches in the league but they still remain in the top four, one point clear of Manchester United and West Ham despite having played two less games and two points ahead of rivals Tottenham, who have a game in hand over the Gunners.
Tottenham also won 2-0 and were victorious over an out of form Brighton side thanks to goals from Cristian Romero and Harry Kane rejuvenating their top four hopes.
Kane broke the record for the amount of Premier League away goals scored after Spurs doubled their lead, overtaking Wayne Rooney’s 94 despite playing 104 less games and with the striker still only 28 you can only see that record increasing.
The England captain however missed a golden opportunity in the first five minutes winning the ball off Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez and then missing an open goal after rounding the keeper and putting the chance wide.
It didn’t take Spurs long however to open the scoring with Dejan Kulusevski’s shot deflecting off Cristian Romero’s ankle, completely wrong footing Sanchez in the Seagulls’ net, the Argentine as shocked as everyone else that the ball ended up in the goal.
Kane doubled Spurs advantage with a low drilled left-footed finish past Sanchez, the goal also saw him overtake Frank Lampard in the overall Premier League goal scoring rankings, moving up to fifth with 178 goals, 82 behind Shearer’s record.
The win sees Antonio Conte’s side move up to seventh in the table, three points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal having played a game more, with a North London derby awaiting them later in the season.
However, they are only two points behind fifth-placed Manchester United, level with West Ham and have a game in hand on both before they host the Hammers on Sunday.
Spurs will be hoping to correct their inconsistent form having a defeat following every victory in their last 16 games.
Speaking to Match of the Day Conte praised Kane’s resilience; “At the start of the season he struggled a bit and didn’t score a lot and now he knows very well with this team he has great opportunities to score in every game.
“To have a striker like him makes us stronger but at the same time his feeling now is positive because he knows he will have chances.
“I think he deserves to win something in his career because we are talking about a fantastic player.”
Brighton’s form on the other hand will worry Graham Potter, with only one victory in their last 10 matches, the Seagulls have now lost six consecutive league games for the first time since 2006. Although they improved significantly after the break they rarely looked like cutting open the Spurs defence and unsurprisingly failed to register a single effort on target.
