The whole place erupted at the final whistle.
They had just witnessed a Premier League classic, an incredible five goal thriller which had everybody on the edge of their seats or hiding behind the sofa. It was as noisy and as loud inside the Emirates since Arsenal moved to the new stadium because after performances like this the fans deserve to believe anything is possible.
The Arsenal fans were singing: “We are top of the league” after they returned to the Premier League summit as once again they showed they are ready to go toe-to-toe with Manchester City. It was full of drama, controversy and talking points with Jurgen Klopp remonstrating with the match officials at full time.
Two-goal Bukayo Saka somehow kept his nerve to settle it with an ice cool penalty and, because of Covid, it was the first time Arsenal have beaten Liverpool in front of their own fans in seven years. It looked such a soft penalty to decide it all - Thiago catching Gabriel Jesus - but the verdict was that the Liverpool midfielder did not get the ball and caught the Arsenal No.9.
Referee Michael Oliver had no hesitation and had to run over to both benches in the dying minutes to calm everyone down as tempers boiled over. But Arsenal are passing every test. Whenever you think they might slip up, they come back with a big response.
And when you beat Tottenham and Liverpool in back-to-back Premier League games, you deserve to be taken seriously and now everyone should sit up and take notice. Liverpool produced a much better display, they were exposed defensively but looked so menacing going forward and there were clear signs of them returning to form.
But Arsenal were deserved winners, inspired by man of the match Gabriel Martinelli. Martinelli seems to love playing against Liverpool and it is little wonder why Klopp is such a big admirer. There were also big performances all over the pitch with Saka, Thomas Partey and even Takehiro Tomiyasu excelling as a surprise starter at left back.
Tomiyasu nullified Mo Salah to such an extent that the Liverpool forward was substituted after 69 minutes. Liverpool were undoubtedly the toughest opponents yet. And yet if there was any doubt then Arsenal laid down a marker after just 58 seconds. Saka found Martin Odegaard and his delicious through ball split Joel Matip and Trent Alexander-Arnold before Saka rushed in to score.
The fingers will be pointed at Alexander-Arnold but actually Kostas Tsimikas was pushed so far forward on the left that was what gave Arsenal the space. It did not get better for Alexander-Arnold after he was caught by Martinelli and was subbed at half time. But Liverpool came back so strongly and were the better side for much of the first half. They levelled after 34 minutes after Gabriel missed a clearance, Luiz Diaz broke down the right, his cross found Darwin Nunez who slid in to score.
Arsenal looked vulnerable but came back again in first half injury time. Jesus led a counter attack, Martinelli then put in a low cross and Saka put Arsenal back in front.
They had great chances to make it 3-1 - most notably Odegaard firing straight at Alisson - before Liverpool levelled again. Diogo Jota’s through ball released substitute Roberto Firmino who fired past Aaron Ramsdale. Incredibly, it was Firmino’s 10th goal in 17 games against Arsenal.
From then on, it was anyone’s game. But Arsenal rose to the occasion. They kept up the pressure on. Thiago looked absolutely dumbfounded after the penalty award - he caught Jesus who was going for Granit Xhaka’s cross - and while there is contact it is hard for the VAR to overturn.
Saka is still 21 and yet he still showed incredible strength to smash home the decisive and match winning penalty to seal a memorable and potentially defining victory.
