Arsenal’s pursuit of Europe intensified after they were gifted two goals in the first half to overcome the champions by 2-1 at the Emirates on Wednesday night.

The Gunners struggled at the initial stage of the game but the Reds impressed with lots of neat passing and dominated comfortably. Robertson and Trent roamed on the flanks comfortably and distributed balls towards Salah and Mane, which put the center pair of the Gunners under pressure to handle the occasion.

Sadio Mane sailed the Reds through in the 20-minute.

Firmino rolled a lovely ball down the line for Robertson to chase and he found the perfect final ball across goal. Mane charged in and slid in from 10 yards out to register his sixth goal against Arsenal.

The Gunners almost responded after Xhaka pinged a direct ball over the top. Alisson was indecisive and Nelson had time to lift his head but his final ball across goal was poor.

Lacazette utilized from Van Dijk’s mistake in the 32-minute and leveled the scores for the Gunners.

The Dutch received just minimal pressure from Nelson as he played a lazy ball back to Alisson. Lacazette read it, got ahead of the goalkeeper, took it around him, and rolled home an equalizer that did not look likely in the slightest. 

Van Dijk screamed at the referee, claiming he was fouled but VAR review awarded the goal.

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It was the European best defender’s first error leading to a goal in the Premier League since March 2019 while it was also the Gunners' first shot of the game.

Nelson doubled the Gunners lead a minute to half time following Alisson’s uncharacteristic error.

The goalkeeper played a sleepy ball out to Robertson but credited Lacazette, who was alive to the error. Quick as a flash he pulled it across for Nelson, who got the ball out of his feet and fired one into the bottom corner. 

The Reds have dropped eight points in their last five games since winning title.