London, Aug 25 (IANS) Arsenal stumbled again at home and moved down five points behind leader Manchester City after drawing 0-0 with Liverpool in an English Premier League (EPL) match at the Emirates Stadium here.
The first half of Monday’s match gave the visitors several clear chances to score but the second half belonged to the hosts, reports Efe.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers had said earlier one didn’t need to dominate the ball to beat Arsenal and true to his words, his team created some clear opportunities with minimum ball possession.
But the crossbar played spoilsport as the Brazilian Philippe Coutinho struck it as early as the third minute and Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech made two outstanding saves to deny Christian Benteke and Countinho a chance to score in the first half, leaving Liverpool goalless at half time.
The scenario changed in the second half with Arsenal midfielders and strikers, including Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey or Mesut Özil gaining possession of the ball and Liverpool attempting a few counter-attacks.
Although Arsene Wenger’s team wasted no time in creating opportunities to score, it suffered the same fate as Liverpool in the first half.
A strike by Chilean Alexis Sanchez in the 60th minute hit off the post while Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saved a shot by the French Olivier Giroud, leaving the hosts goalless.
After the draw, Liverpool stand at third place, with two points less than City while Arsenal are ninth, five points behind the leader that has won all their games so far.