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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Josh O'Brien

Mikel Arteta's error that cost Arsenal at Anfield could prove crucial in title pursuit

Time will tell if Arsenal and their manager Mikel Arteta reflect on the point they take back from Anfield as one gained or two dropped, but the Spaniard has to shoulder some resposibility for the capitulation.

The Gunners were in cruise control inside the opening 30 minutes, with goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus stunning the Liverpool faithful into silence. Arsenal were in dreamland, looking comfortably superior than their hosts.

However, as the game went on, Jurgen Klopp's men started to gain a foothold on the tie. Just minutes before the interval, Mohamed Salah started the fightback. The Egyptian was on hand to to bundle home from close range to change the dynamic of the team-talks for both sides.

The Reds continued to assert their dominance in the second-half and it seemed as if the Gunners were at times paralysed by fear. That goes for both those on the pitch and those in the technical area.

While Klopp was quick to make changes in a bid to switch things up, Arsenal's bench remained inactive. The Reds boss made three substitutions before his Gunners counterpart made one.

All three were attacking changes, as is expected given the landscape of the game at the time and the fact Liverpool were still trailing, but all three of Thiago, Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino were introduced off the bench.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Did Arteta make a mistake with his substitutions? Comment below

Mikel Arteta was a tad too reactive with his substitutions ((Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))

Keen to force through an equaliser, particularly after Salah missed a penalty, Klopp threw the kitchen sink at it with his subs.

Of course, few would have expected Arteta to fight fire with fire and bring his attacking options on while trying to hold onto the lead, but the first issue with his subs is they simple came too late.

He initially brought on Leandro Trossard in place of Gabriel Jesus to try and offer an outlet up top, while also, perhaps questionably, introduced Jakub Kiwior for just the second time in the Premier League.

That was a decision that nearly cost them dearly. Kiwior dived in high up the pitch and failed to get the ball, which in turn led to Darwin Nunez being played through on goal, but Aaron Ramsdale spared his team-mates blushes.

A third Arsenal substitution would soon follow, but follow far too late. Many times this season Arteta has opted to swap Oleksandr Zinchenko for Kieran Tierney while trying to preserve a lead, given the Scotland international is largely viewed as the superior defender.

The swap usually happens significantly earlier than the 87th minute and by the time it occured at Anfield on Sunday, the damage was done.

Oleksandr Zinchenko cut a frustrated figure at full-time ((Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))

Zinchenko was the guilty party for Liverpool's equaliser, with the Ukrainian international failing to deal with Trent Alexander-Arnold, who nutmegged the Arsenal left-back before lofting a deft cross into the area for Firmino to head home.

Whether Tierney would have dealt with the Reds right-back differently will forever remain unknown, but the impact of Zinchenko's error was written all over the former City star's face as he sat crestfallen on the bench.

There are eights games to go for this young, inexperienced Arsenal side and much for both their players and manager to learn if they are to lift a first league title for 19 years in May.

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