SUMMARY
- Liverpool had a disastrous night at Arsenal's stadium, losing 3-0.
- Fans criticize Mikel Arteta's celebrations despite 'The Gunners' solid home performance.
Liverpool had a terrible night at London’s Emirates Stadium. ‘The Reds’ went into the match against Arsenal as Premier League leaders and hoped to register a convincing win. However, the team from North London battered the Merseyside club by playing some exquisite soccer. Arsenal beat Liverpool 3-0 to close the gap on Liverpool to just 2 points after 23 games in the 23/24 PL season.
However, the soccer match has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. Instead of discussing the solid home performance from ‘The Gunners’, some fans seem displeased with its coach Mikel Arteta’s celebrations. One soccer pundit even went to the extent of physically harming the Spanish coach.
Steve Nicol fumes at Mikel Arteta’s antics against Liverpool
The former Scottish soccer player in an ESPN FC show ranted about Mikel Arteta’s ways of celebrating. He feels that the Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp should have assaulted his counterpart. Steve Nicol even pulled out his leg to show how he would have tripped Mikel Arteta when the Spaniard was running in delight to celebrate Arsenal’s third goal on the night.
He said with his right leg out, “I’d love to give him just one of them.” The former Liverpool player also explained the reason behind his thoughts.
He said that no manager likes his counterpart to celebrate in the manner that Arteta celebrated the win. Steve said, ” I don’t like coaches doing all that.” The 62-year-old also clarified that he has similar things to say about the over-the-top celebrations of Jurgen Klopp. Mikel Arteta looked pleased with Arsenal’s performance as it was a daunting task for his team to beat an in-form Liverpool, thus triggering his wild celebrations.
No arsenal fan will pass without liking this post pic.twitter.com/JwbmwKbjMC
— AFCtrey (@afc_treyy) February 4, 2024
However, the celebrations didn’t go well with Steve Nicol who himself has played for Liverpool for over a decade. the Scottish defender had an illustrious career for the ‘The Reds’ winning three Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League title once. It is safe to say that the Liverpool fan inside Steve Nicol was hurt to see Arteta scoring a goal against his beloved team.
Jurgen Klopp offered some tough words for the referee after Liverpool’s loss
The German manager was livid with the referee. The 56-year-old had a tough time at the Emirates watching his team getting outclassed by Arsenal. Liverpool conceded some very comical goals and could not threaten the Arsenal penalty box.
Liverpool’s only goal on the night was an own goal scored by Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes. ‘The Reds’ managed a very poor expected goal of 0.41 against Arsenal’s 3.52.
However, Jurgen Klopp scapegoated the referee of the match for his team’s loss. The German manager believed that the referee should have penalized some of Arsenal’s fouls properly. He even pointed out the instances where the Arsenal players committed foul play. The German manager even considered a foul on Diogo Jota red card-worthy.
🚨 Klopp: “A lot of things went against us”.
“This referee gave me red card against City for wrestling situation – Bernardo & Salah”.
“Today same with Jota that didn’t get a red card. Unbelievable”.
“Holding by Havertz on Konate… Gabriel did same with Nunez, no yellow card”. pic.twitter.com/gDwS5sTqAg
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 4, 2024
Klopp’s frustration is justified considering that he had just seen a very uncharacteristic performance from his side. The loss to Arsenal has dented Liverpool’s title hopes. While Arsenal is sniffing down on the Merseyside club’s neck, Manchester City is not very far behind.
‘The Cityzens’ are five points off league leaders Liverpool but have two games in hand. Considering, the highly competitive nature of the English first division’s soccer, fans have speculated for an epic title race in the 23/24 season.