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28

2019 Comeback To End Winless Streak Liverpool March On After
Arsenal Stage Second Half
11th, Brushing Aside

December Bournemouth

| remier League leaders Liverpool reply, dominated first-half posses- heel before taking a touch and
EXAMINER Pextending their unbeaten run to minute to take the lead at the end calmly prodding past Ramsdale
moved 11 points clear after sion but had to wait until the 35th
from 10 yards out.
Without on-loan six-goal top
33top-flightgameswithadominant3-0 of a simple move which started
IRISH comeback victory at West Ham and end a nine- successatstrugglingBournemouth. with Alisson Becker. scorer Harry Wilson, who was inel-
After receiving the ball from his
igible against his parent club, the
First-half strikes from Alex
Arsenal hit three quickfire goals to seal a 3-1
Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby
Cherries were failing to test Reds
goalkeeper via Lovren, midfielder
match winless run in the process. Keita put Jurgen Klopp’s side on Henderson deceived keeper Alisson and unable to haul
The Gunners looked on course for yet another course for a comfortable afternoon Bournemouth center-back Chris themselves back into the contest.
defeat as they fell behind to a fortunate Angelo at the Vitality Stadium. Mepham with a long, diagonal pass Calamitous home defending led
Ogbonna goal at the London Stadium – but they Mohamed Salah’s 10th goal of which allowed Oxlade- to the result being put beyond
rallied after the break to record a fairly comfort- the season early in the second peri- Chamberlain to volley his sixth doubt just nine minutes into the
able victory. od sealed the three points as the goal of the season beyond goal- second period.
It was the first win under the guidance of inter- European champions continued keeper Aaron Ramsdale from level Inexperienced center-back Jack
im head coach Freddie Ljungberg, who was their seemingly relentless march with the penalty spot. Simpson, on in place of Ake, gave
rewarded for starting Gabriel Martinelli and towards a first title in 30 years. The opener had hallmarks of the ball away to Keita. The Guinea
Nicolas Pépé as both got on the scoresheet before Defeat for lowly Bournemouth, two sloppy goals the hosts conced- international then advanced to slip
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added the third. who failed to produce an attempt ed at Spurs last weekend and came in Salah, who raced away from
While Arsenal supporters booed their team off on target, was a fifth in succession in the immediate aftermath of Mepham to coolly roll home past
at the break, it was the West Ham fans who flood- and leaves them just a single point Holland international Ake limping Ramsdale and atone for a close-
ed out of the stadium early as Manuel Pellegrini above the relegation zone. off following a superb tackle to range miss in first-half stoppage
continues to hang onto his own job – with Another miserable afternoon for deny Salah. time.
Ljungberg showing his credentials for landing the Eddie Howe’s side was compound- Bournemouth’s players had The three goals came in the
Arsenal role on a full-time basis. ed by apparent hamstring prob- emerged from the tunnel wearing space of just 19 minutes either side
After a draw at Norwich and a home defeat to lems suffered by key defender tracksuit tops with ‘Afobe 9’ on the of half-time.
Brighton, Ljungberg needed a response here and it Nathan Ake and star striker Callum back in a touching tribute to Benik In the 64th-minute, Wilson
finally came on the hour. Wilson. Afobe following the death of their became the second Cherries player
Until then this was a London derby with a dis- Meanwhile, Liverpool’s almost- former team-mate’s two-year-old to limp off, leaving Dominic
tinct lack of quality or intensity, with Bernd Leno perfect day in Dorset was slightly daughter Amora last week. Solanke, who has now failed to
saving well from fit-again Michail Antonio the only tempered by a first-half injury to The out-of-form hosts have score in 26 appearances since a
real chance before the Hammers hit the front. Dejan Lovren. been sucked into trouble at the £19million move from Anfield in
Arsenal could not clear their lines from a corner Reds manager Klopp made wrong end of the table after picking January, as a lone striker.
and Ogbonna shouldered the ball goalwards seven changes on the south coast as up just one win from nine games Liverpool’s commanding lead
before it cannoned off Ainsley Maitland-Niles – he juggles a packed December fix- ahead of kick-off. allowed Klopp to hand a Premier
called in at the last minute after Hector Bellerin ture list. The alarming slump looked like- League debut to 18-year-old mid-
was injured in the warm-up – and into the net. Salah, Roberto Firmino and cap- ly to continue when they fell fur- fielder Curtis Jones and give Sadio
There was no immediate response from tain Jordan Henderson were ther behind a minute before the Mane a well-earned rest on the
Ljungberg’s men and a header well over the bar among those recalled after being break following a slick Liverpool bench.
from Mesut Ozil was the best they could muster in given a breather during the attack. The visitors were content to
the first 45 minutes. emphatic midweek Merseyside Midfielder Keita, making his first wind the clock down rather than
Declan Rice’s thumping strike was kept out by derby win over Everton. league start of the season, collected go full throttle for more goals and
Leno as West Ham looked to double their advan- The visitors, who had won the the ball from Lovren’s replacement convincingly held on for a wel-
tage, only for Arsenal to show they can provide the previous four meetings between Trent Alexander-Arnold and then come first clean sheet in 14 games
goods when it counts. the clubs, scoring 14 goals without received it back from Salah’s back- in all competitions. C
Martinelli hit his first Premier League goal on
his first start in the competition as he steered in
Sead Kolasinac’s cross and six minutes later they
were ahead.
Aubameyang spread the ball out wide to Pépé
and the club-record signing needed no second invi-
tation to curl home a fine finish before celebrating
in front of the travelling supporters.
The Ivory Coast international then provided the
assist for Aubameyang, who was just onside as he
hit a crisp volley past David Martin.
The win takes Arsenal up to ninth in the table
and ends an alarming run of form which cost Unai
Emery his job, with Ljungberg still coy on whether
he wants to take the reins full-time.
Either way, he will start planning for a Europa
League group game away to Standard Liege on
Thursday night, while his counterpart Pellegrini
will still be hoping to be in a job by then. C
Mohamed Salah slots past the onrushing Aaron Ramsdale to make it 3-0 to Liverpool