A loss at the Emirates Stadium is nothing embarrassing for Liverpool, but it might have ended their season.
It looks like Arsenal are going to comfortably finish inside of the top four this season, while Liverpool will now face a very desperate and perhaps futile chase. The Reds lost their second straight match to a top four rival on Saturday, following up their defeat to Manchester United with a 4-1 loss to Arsenal.
Liverpool had the better of the chances for the first 35 minutes and looked to have a bit too much pace for the Arsenal defense. They should have scored in the 19th minute, when Lazar Markovic looked to play in Raheem Sterling for a tap-in, but overhit his pass.
Arsenal turned the game around in the 37th through an unlikely source -- Hector Bellerin. The young right back cut into the penalty area onto his left foot and curled a perfect shot around Simon Mignolet. The keeper could do nothing about it, as Alberto Moreno did nothing to slow him down.
The Gunners took over from there, and were up 3-0 by halftime. Mesut Özil curled a free kick past Mignolet in the 40th minute and Alexis Sanchez scored the best goal of the day just before the break, hitting a gorgeous 20-yard laser into the top corner after a pretty turn and pass by Aaron Ramsey.
Early on in the second half, Arsenal suffered a couple of setbacks. Laurent Koscielny had to be substituted injured and in the 75th minute, Bellerin gave away a penalty. He hacked down Sterling in the box, Jordan Henderson converted, and Liverpool looked to be in with a decent chance to earn a point.
But things went downhill quickly for the visitors. Emre Can picked up a second yellow card in the 84th minute, ending his team's chances of a comeback. In the dying minutes, Olivier Giroud continued his excellent goalscoring run with a brilliant finish from the edge of the box, putting an exclamation point on a great win.
Arsenal : Ospina, Monreal, Koscielny (Gabriel 50'), Mertesacker, Bellerin, Coquelin, Ramsey, Cazorla, Özil, Giroud, Sanchez
Goals: Bellerin (37'), Özil (40'), Sanchez (45'), Giroud (90')
Liverpool : Mignolet, Sahko, Toure, Can, Moreno, Allen, Lucas, Henderson, Coutinho, Markovic, Sterling
Goals: Henderson (penalty 76')
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