They’re only human, says Jurgen Klopp, as Liverpool self-destruct

LONDON – Liverpool’s usually reliable stalwarts Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker suffered the sort of defensive meltdown that would not have looked out of place in a pub match on Feb 4 but manager Jurgen Klopp was not playing the blame game.

Van Dijk hesitated under pressure from Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli in the 67th minute, failing to deal with a long punt forward, then goalkeeper Alisson rushed out and made no contact with the ball, leaving Martinelli with a tap in to make it 2-1.

It knocked the stuffing out of Klopp’s league leaders and Leandro Trossard’s stoppage-time goal confirmed their second league defeat of the season.

“We were growing more into the game, second half, we had our moments and then we concede that goal,” Klopp said.

“That doesn’t help. It just shows the boys are human beings. Today we were really human.”

Lacklustre Liverpool were nowhere near their best and their lead has now been cut to two points while champions Manchester City are five points behind with two games in hand. They can cut that gap if they beat Brentford on Feb 5 (Feb 6, Singapore time).

“In general, we can admit that Arsenal deserve the three points. The circumstances were a bit strange,” Klopp said.

“They scored goals and were many parts better than us. We have to play better football, that’s clear.”

Van Dijk, usually a colossus for Klopp, held up his hand and took full responsibility for his part in Martinelli's goal.

“Obviously these things don’t happen too often in my career, but I will recover from this. It is a physical game and I am not looking for excuses. I should have made a better decision – it hurts for me,” he said.

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane was more scathing of Liverpool’s defending. He said on Sky Sports: “In terms of the intensity from the first whistle to the last whistle from Liverpool, I can’t believe how bad they were.

“Credit to Arsenal, they turned up and were at it. But Liverpool defensively, the goals they gave away - it was like a pub team defending...

“I was disappointed with what Liverpool did today, but if you step back, it’s their second defeat (of this Premier League season). I’m pretty sure they’ll react because they’re a top-quality side, but we expected more today.”

Arsenal had taken the lead early on through Bukayo Saka and were dominant at the Emirates Stadium. But they were deflated on the stroke of half-time when Gabriel's own goal cost them an equaliser.

The hosts responded after the break, aided by Liverpool's defensive mishaps, and a third league win in a row leaves Mikel Arteta's side right back in the title race when defeat would have left them eight points adrift.

After blowing an eight-point lead in the title race last season, allowing City to steal the crown, Arsenal are desperate to finally win the Premier League for the first time since 2004. And Arteta hopes the mature way they recovered from conceding the equaliser showed they now have the attributes required of potential champions.

He said: “We are there, that’s for sure. We want to continue to be there. We’ve been really consistent all season, if not you aren’t where we are today. We take it game by game. We have learnt from last season. Let’s try to make that happen.

“We were ruthless when we had a chance and it feels like a big win... We have come so far and now it is about doing it consistently.

“Liverpool have done it for six to seven years. It gives us momentum and the way we have done it we are back in the race. I’m really excited.” REUTERS, AFP