A 1-0 victory at Anfield on Sunday, sealed by Kai Havertz's 16th-minute finish, gave Arsenal their first Premier League win there since 2012; Mikel Arteta's side now lead the table by three points, while Liverpool trail by nine.

Havertz punishes Alisson's loose pass

The decisive moment came from a Liverpool error. Alisson Becker's attempted pass out from the back was cut out by Martin Odegaard, and Arsenal shifted the ball swiftly through Bruno Guimaraes to Noni Madueke on the right. Declan Rice went past him on the overlap and his low cross to the back post gave Havertz a simple finish.

Arseblog noted that the assist was Rice's fifth of the season, all of them from open play. Sky Sports reported that the goal made Havertz the Premier League's leading German scorer on 46, moving him ahead of former Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.

Arsenal had begun brightly, working openings largely down the left through Christos Tzolis, who returned to the side after around a month out with a hamstring injury. Arseblog reported that Arteta's post-match comments about Eberechi Eze barely being available because of an injury of his own explained a selection that had initially looked harsh on the midfielder.

A siege, and a reprieve from the spot

After the goal the game turned sharply. Liverpool poured forward for the remainder of the first half, and Sky Sports counted 17 attempts from the hosts across the match — none of them on target, the first time on record that Liverpool have failed to register a shot on target at home. Alexis Mac Allister headed over from Milos Kerkez's cross when he ought to have scored, while Florian Wirtz's free-kick came back off the crossbar.

The biggest escape came when Jurrien Timber pulled at Alexander Isak's shirt as the forward tried to meet a cross, and the officials did not spot it. "The Alex Isak one is a clear penalty," Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola said. "You hold the shirt; we can all see that he holds the shirt." He added that had Isak gone to ground, "they call the penalty 100 per cent". Sky Sports reported that Jamie Carragher responded by telling VAR to "do its job". Arseblog's verdict was that it was a penalty and that the VAR officials ought to have recommended an on-field review. A second appeal, when Tzolis tangled with Cody Gakpo, was also waved away.

Raya untroubled as the back line holds

David Raya was not required to make a save, with Liverpool's wastefulness in the final third and Arsenal's organisation combining to keep the hosts out. "It's been a defensive masterclass from Arsenal," Gary Neville said on Sky Sports. At the other end, Alisson kept Liverpool in the game by brilliantly denying Tzolis' low strike on 73 minutes. Myles Lewis-Skelly came on for Guimaraes, and Madueke was booked for a foul on Bradley Barcola.

What the result means

The win moves Arsenal three points clear of Manchester City at the summit. Neville, speaking at Anfield, said the champions had "come and conquered" a difficult away ground. The Evening Standard noted that Arteta was still in the Arsenal midfield the last time the club won in the red half of Merseyside.

Attention now turns quickly to Europe, with Arsenal travelling to face Slavia Prague in the Champions League on Wednesday at 20:00 UK time.

Photo: Arne Müseler via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, resized.