Player ratings as wasteful Gunners bow out of FA Cup third round

Arsenal slumped to a 2-0 defeat at home to Liverpool on Sunday evening, bowing out of the FA Cup in the third round thanks chiefly to their wastefulness in front of goal.

The Gunners spent the opening 80 minutes creatively failing to find the back of Liverpool’s net before picking out their own goal. The luckless Jakub Kiwior inadvertently diverted Trent Alexander-Arnold’s sharp set piece past Aaron Ramsdale with just ten minutes left to play.

Luis Diaz consigned Arsenal to a third consecutive defeat in the fifth minute of stoppage time, demonstrating the cutting edge that has evaded Mikel Arteta’s side in recent weeks.

How the game unfolded

Since Gabriel opened the scoring against Liverpool at Anfield just before Christmas, Arsenal’s 53 subsequent shots yielded just one goal ahead of Sunday’s cup tie. This glut of profligacy peaked with a staggering sequence of chaos after ten minutes.

Bukayo Saka robbed Joe Gomez to spark a sequence of three shots in seven seconds. Reiss Nelson’s initial effort was blocked before Martin Odegaard sent a violent thump against the crossbar. Saka completed the wasteful thrust.

Arsenal’s feverish press kept Liverpool penned into their own half for much of the opening 45 minutes but Alisson somehow preserved his clean sheet going into the interval.

Trent Alexander-Arnold almost punished Arsenal’s wastefulness on the cusp of half-time. On a rare foray forward, Liverpool’s skipper for the day let rip but, just as in the league meeting between this pair two weeks ago, Alexander-Arnold rattled the frame of Arsenal’s goal.

Jurgen Klopp is many things but passive is not one of them. The Liverpool boss reshuffled his forward line during the interval and again before the hour mark, bringing a belated pulse to his side’s attack.

Diogo Jota, that familiar scourge of Arsenal, was brought on and teed up Luis Diaz from close range in the final 15 minutes. Aaron Ramsdale pawed away Diaz’s stinger brilliantly but was helpless as Jota nodded the subsequent corner onto his crossbar.

Unlike the hosts, Liverpool marked their period of dominance with a goal. Alexander-Arnold’s wicked in-swinging free-kick skidded off Kiwior’s head, wrong-footing Ramsdale and giving the visitors a lead with ten minutes remaining.

Diaz cemented Liverpool’s place in Monday’s fourth-round draw with the last kick of the game, dancing through the expanse left open by Arsenal’s desperate attempts to equalise before picking out the top corner.