Paul Merson took aim at goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale following Arsenal's loss to Liverpool, claiming he 'got lazy' in allowing Diogo Jota’s opener to beat him at the near post.
The Gunners missed out on the chance to strengthen their grip on fourth place as goals from Jota and Roberto Firmino earned Liverpool a vital 2-0 victory. In a game that appeared to be in the balance for the vast majority of the evening, it was the visitors’ clinical edge which ultimately decided the destination of the points.
Martin Odegaard missed a wonderful opportunity to open the scoring, when he was superbly denied by Alisson, before Jota made Arsenal pay with another Emirates strike. After being played in by Thiago Alcantara, the former Wolves striker surprised Ramsdale by shooting early from an acute angle.
Ramsdale, who has been one of the signings of the Premier League season, got down to his right but despite getting a hand to the ball, he was beaten by the power of the shot. In the ascendancy, Firmino then made it two just after the hour mark to end Arsenal’s five-match winning streak and put a dent in their aspirations of securing a return to Champions League football.
Mikel Arteta claimed the goals his side conceded were “not at our level” with Ramsdale coming in for criticism in the post-match analysis. Former Gunners star Merson suggested Ramsdale was anticipating a cross and got lazy, while Graeme Souness stated he got his positioning all wrong.
Merson told Sky Sports: “It is poor defending all round and it’s poor goalkeeping. The goalkeeper gets lazy, he thinks it is going to be a cross. You should never ever get beaten at your near post.”
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Arsenal finish in the top four this season? Let us know in the comments
Souness added: “‘He gets a good hand on it but he is nearly at full stretch, that is how out of position he is. That is poor positioning.”
Speaking shortly after the full-time whistle, Arteta admitted that Ramsdale was disappointed with his own performance, but refused to apportion too much blame towards the club’s better signings in recent years. “He will be, but this is part of the game. Every time he’s saved us and every time he’s been phenomenal and today he had really good moments to do what we wanted to in this game against Liverpool, but unfortunately we conceded two goals that were not at our level.”
Arsenal remain one point ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United in the Premier League table, having played two games more. The defeat continues a worrying trend of being beaten by the league’s top three teams, but Arteta claims the result didn’t necessarily reflect the display his side produced.
“Absolutely. I don’t think the result probably reflects the performance of the team,” the Spaniard added. “But from box to box in many moments we were the better team and we did everything that we planned.
“The way the boys performed showed their courage to play the way we wanted to play, the intensity, the understanding of the game, they really raised their level today. But unfortunately these games are won in the boxes and that was the critical difference today not to get anything out of this game, unfortunately.”
