Arsenal’s miserable start to the season continued as they were beaten 2-0 at home by Liverpool on Saturday.
The first goal was fortuitous, looping in off Aaron Ramsey as Ignasi Miquel, under pressure from substitute Luis Suarez, tried to clear. Suarez added the second in the final minute, rolling in after Dirk Kuyt and Raul Meireles had carved Arsenal open.
Arsene Wenger’s side, already in turmoil after Cesc Fabregas’s departure, could only draw at Newcastle United last week, and there are serious questions about their discipline.
The dismissal of Emmanuel Frimpong was their second of the season after Gervinho’s red card at Newcastle, with Alex Song also suspended following a stamp.
To make matters worse, Arsenal lost Laurent Koscielny to a back spasm after 15 minutes; he was replaced by Miquel, an 18-year-old Spaniard making his debut.
Given Arsenal’s problems, it perhaps wasn’t surprising that Liverpool had the better of the game. Martin Kelly struck the post with an angled drive and Wojciech Szczesny made an excellent save to keep out an Andy Carroll header.
With Andriy Arshavin off-colour and Samir Nasri, surprisingly included in the starting line-up amid rumours his move to Manchester City has broken down, looking distracted, Arsenal’s best outfield player in the first half was the 19-year-old Frimpong.
He was sent off with 20 minutes to go, though, collecting a second yellow card after planting his studs into Jordan Henderson’s shin.
The breakthrough came eight minutes later, following a slick one-two between Suarez and Meireles. The same combination produced the second, Meireles squaring for Suarez after a Kuyt surge had opened Arsenal up.
