An incident occurred in the middle of the Premier League match Liverpool vs Arsenal on Sunday (9/4/2023). The Liverpool vs Arsenal match at the Anfield Stadium went through with high intensity.
The visitors Arsenal were two goals ahead via Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus in the first half hour of the match. Mo Salah managed to reduce the score three minutes before halftime. Salah then had the chance to equalize the score from the penalty box in the 54th minute. Unfortunately, the execution widened.
Nonetheless, the pressure from the host camp bore positive results. Roberto Firmino headed in with three minutes of normal time remaining (87’). Hence, this result makes Arsenal’s 11-year curse of never winning over Liverpool at Anfield Stadium still continuing. The last time Arsenal won at Anfield was in 2012. At that time, the Gunners beat Liverpool 2-0.
Incidents with Referee
The hot match was decorated with incidents that occurred in the middle of the match. Lines judge Constantine Hatzidakis was caught on camera elbowing Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson as the players were about to head to the locker room.
“I don’t know what the assistant referee was thinking,” former Blackburn Rovers striker Chris Sutton told the BBC. “As far as I can see, he should be suspended. He should be out of action for a few games. I don’t remember any incident like this ever happening.”
Regarding this incident, PGMOL immediately issued a statement. PGMOL is the governing body for refereeing in the Premier League. “PGMOL is aware of an incident involving assistant referee Consantine Hatzidakis and Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson during half-time of Liverpool vs Arsenal at Anfield,” their statement read during the second half. “We will review this matter as soon as the game is over.”
This result made Arsenal widen the gap with second-placed Man City to six points. The Gunners collected 73 points from 30 matches while Man City took 67 points from 29 matches. Mikel Arteta’s troops still have to travel to the Man City headquarters at the Etihad Stadium and the headquarters of third-placed team Newcastle United. At least, the Gunners are now unbeaten in 8 Premier League matches.
