Five goals later, Pep Guardiola took stock after leaving Huddersfield behind in the cup. The afternoon had been perfect. He had brought back Doku, the tireless Belgian dribbler, and especially Kevin de Bruyne, after an almost five-month break. That's why Pep is excited, because the calendar also gives him a break to do something he craves and that makes his team's ability to stay in all competitions difficult: training. Guardiola is looking for time to train his players and in January he will spend several days in the heat of Abu Dhabi to take advantage of a break from competition between the 13th and 27th. But the award-winning coach warned after the 5-0 win over Huddersfield: “Our great rival Liverpool is back.” The boys around Jürgen Klopp agreed with him almost immediately.
Liverpool is invincible. The cup draw, in which there are no seeds or bagpipes, sent him to the Arsenal field when there were still 64 teams in the competition. He arrived at the Emirates unrecognizable, wearing a purple suit and only 12 first-team players. Africa recruited Salah, Asia recruited Endo. He couldn't count on Van Dijk, his substitute Matip, or the Hungarian midfielder Szoboszlai. Robertson and Tsimikas, the two left-backs, are injured, as is the Galician wildcard player Bajcetic. Liverpool finished the game with three second team boys on the field but exuberant. And they beat Arsenal (0-2) in the final minutes of a memorable second half. “I'm very proud. We brought the children with us and won. That speaks for everyone's character,” summarized Klopp.
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A grimace of disappointment gripped the Arsenal players, who faded in the Premier League, having won just one of their last five games, and in the Cup, a fetish tournament for the club that has won the most victories (14 in comparison), Liverpool's eight have suffered a setback). has increased it. There is a feeling that they missed a golden opportunity to eliminate their rivals, who went through the game in a crescendo where they were overwhelmed at first and became unnecessary at the end.
De Bruyne, against Huddersfield.LEE SMITH (Action Images via Portal)
On the scoreboard, Arsenal must have taken the lead. In the end he left without seeing the goal and with his well-known doubts about the strength of the team. This time too, Havertz is the chosen one, who had clear opportunities in front of the goal but finished them all like a cadet. Mourinho would have compared him to a cat. It also happened that there were some sleeping tigers in front of them. Liverpool started in a state of daze and had serious problems moving the ball from the back. Odegaard hit the crossbar in the tenth minute after taking advantage of one of those poor ball releases. The goal went to White, Havertz or Saka. You didn't understand it correctly. And the rival stretched. Alexander-Arnold sounded the alarm with a shot that hit Ramsdale's crossbar. After the break another team came out, the usual Liverpool who take their turn and overwhelm their opponents to make any argument a living hell. It's impossible not to vibrate with a team like this, capable of bringing that soul into the game. Guardiola would do well to warn.
Full of reflexes, Ramsdale stopped Luis Díaz's attempt just as everything was getting out of hand. Arsenal had faded. Liverpool concentrated on working on the sides with Díaz and Núñez, pushing hard until a lateral foul sent Alexander-Arnold to the near post, where he injured himself. The Polish New Zealander headed the ball towards his own goal and decided the tie. Klopp's players celebrated the goal as if it were the last of their lives. Observing how goals are celebrated is usually an excellent indicator to understand the team's performance. Luis Díaz's decision on the hour mark added even more momentum to the celebrations. Klopp stormed towards the net stand and, as usual, threw three shots in the air. Then it hit his heart. It's all about this.
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