ANFIELD — It almost worked. Arsenal had reduced Liverpool, scorers of nine goals in their first three games of the season with two attacking additions costing nearly £200m, to barely a chance.
And then Dominik Szoboszlai struck one of the great free-kicks, the ball rising over the wall then dipping viciously, in off the post, from 32 yards, destined to be replayed in clips for decades to come.
You simply don’t stop Liverpool scoring. Almost literally, these days – Szoboszlai’s free-kick was a club record 37th consecutive Premier League game they have scored in.
Dominik Szoboszlai. WOW. pic.twitter.com/AmSa5lVgcx
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 31, 2025For 83 minutes, Arsenal had squeezed every possible second out of the game they could.
The Anfield crowd, agitated by a surprising lack of entertainment from their own players, finally grew fed up with the approach in the 63rd minute, when Rice stopped enroute and turned to have a quick chat with Gabriel Martinelli.
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In fact, Rice never broke into even a jog for any of them, despite spending the remainder of his time on the pitch tearing from box to box like a wild dog.
Arsenal’s entire performance was laced with letting time drain out the clock.
Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, wasn’t far away from the player, and yelled at him to calm the game down, gesturing with his hands, palms facing down.
Madueke watched his teammate, almost admiringly, then passed the ball back simply, and Arsenal retained possession to see the half out.
It can be quite hard, mind, when your opponent is disrupting rhythm at every opportunity, flattening intensity, taking any sting out of the game you try to inject in it.
This season, referees are attempting to crack down on goalkeepers time-wasting with the ball in their hands by strictly enforcing the eight-second rule.
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When the time elapsed, Raya eked a few more seconds by dropping the ball to his feet, then launching it up field when he was pressured.
You can call it time wasting, or game management, or dark arts, or not what football is all about.
They may have lost a big game, to a brutal free-kick. It may not have worked this time. But there is plenty of evidence Arsenal will be right in the mix for the title yet again.
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