Arsenal were torn apart by a ruthless Liverpool side, who won 5-1 at Anfield to move nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
The game began so brightly for the visitors after Ashley Maitland-Niles converted a wonderful cross by Alex Iwobi.
But the scores were level just three minutes later when Roberto Firmino capitalised on some confusion in the Gunners box to poke home from inside six yards.
The Brazilian put the Reds in the lead two minutes later when, after dispossessing Lucas Torreira, the striker left three Gunners’ defenders on their backsides before stroking the ball past Bernd Leno.
Things only managed to get worse for Arsenal when yet more lacklustre defending by Unai Emery’s men was punished at a set piece. A disorganised backline could only watch as Mohamed Salah cleverly played in Sadio Mane to tap home from close range.
It was four inside 45 minutes when Sokratis Papastathopoulos brought down the Egyptian King in the box, who duly slammed home the penalty.
The rout was complete in the second half when Sead Kolasinac was punished for an apparent push on Dejan Lovren. Fantasy football managers everywhere winced as Salah rejected the chance to double his tally – instead giving the ball to Firmino to stroke home and complete his hat-trick.
A truly dominant performance from the Premier League leaders, the title looks like it is theirs to lose even at this stage.
Star Man – Roberto Firmino
One of the most pleasing things from this performance for Jurgen Klopp will be the outstanding contributions from every single member of his team on Saturday evening.
However, you have to single out Firmino for individual praise after a wonderful hat-trick.
The forward has come under scrutiny this season for lacking a cutting edge in front of goal, but showed his clinical nature with three, very different, but equally brilliant finishes.
Moment of the match
After taking the lead, Arsenal had a genuine chance to cause an upset against the unbeaten and seemingly unflappable Liverpool machine.
However, the same defensive failures which crippled the end of Arsene Wenger’s reign in north London proved to be their undoing again.
With Salah running at the Gunners’ backline, not a single defender seemed brave enough to make a tackle.
When a challenge finally came in, the ball ricocheted around the box – pinging off Shkodran Mustafi and into the path of Firmino. The course of the game had changed completely in three minutes.
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Source: talkSPORT
