Arsenal star Hector Bellerin has moved to defend his side from criticism, on the back of the club’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool on Monday.
Champions get the job done
Mikel Arteta’s men made the trip to Anfield last night, for their 3rd Premier League outing of the campaign.
The Gunners headed into proceedings in fine form, having racked up 6 straight wins across all competitions dating back to last season.
This stretch actually included a victory over Liverpool, in the Community Shield.
As such, ahead of kick-off on Merseyside, the visitors were no doubt brimming with confidence.
When the 90 minutes were said and done, however, Arsenal were brought firmly back down to earth.
A stellar performance on the part of Liverpool eventually saw Jurgen Klopp’s men put the north Londoners to the sword by 3 goals to 1.
Arsenal actually took the lead on the evening, when Alexandre Lacazette took advantage of a rare Andy Robertson mistake to slot home with 25 minutes on the clock.
Liverpool’s pressure, though, soon proved telling, as a quickfire double from Sadio Mane and the aforementioned Robertson turned the scoreline on its head before the interval.
The visitors, to their credit, did reemerge for the 2nd-half with renewed vigour, but, after Lacazette missed a gilt-edged chance to level things up, Diogo Jota soon put the result beyond any doubt, with a late Liverpool 3rd.
Highlights: Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal
‘Getting better every time’
On the back of proceedings coming to a close at Anfield last night, meanwhile, many could not help but point to the evident gap between the two sides.
Liverpool looked back to their imperious best for much of the clash, reminding any who may have forgotten of just how special a side they are when firing on all cylinders.
Arsenal, in truth, therefore stood little chance of bagging a result.
Nevertheless, though, despite their clear inferiority quality-wise, and Liverpool’s general dominance, the Gunners remained in with a shot of nabbing the unlikeliest of points right up until Jota’s 88th-minute finish.
And this is precisely what one of the capital giants’ key men has since been quick to highlight, in the matchup’s aftermath.
When drawn on the criticism of his side during a post-match discussion with the media, Hector Bellerin was quick to leap to Arsenal’s defence, assuring that Arteta’s men made it ‘really, really difficult’ for their hosts on Monday night:
‘Liverpool haven’t lost a game [at Anfield] in the league in years. To be fair, it is the norm to come here and lose nowadays but we made it really, really difficult for them.
‘We had the chances to even go to 2-2 and make it a different game, but the truth is right now they are a better team than us. We are getting better every time.’
Liverpool’s Diogo Jota (center of group) celebrates scoring his side’s third goal of the game with team-mates during the Premier League match at Anfield, Liverpool. (Photo by Paul Ellis/PA Images via Getty Images)
‘The dressing room is frustrated. There is a hunger in this team that wasn’t there the last few years and we want to win every single game. We knew that coming here all the odds were against us, but the team believed that we could come here and get a result.’
‘For us to not get that is very frustrating, but we are not going to let this get to us.’
‘We have been working really well, we have been getting results that people didn’t even believe we could get and, building on from the end of last season, I think the team is working really hard.’
Quotes via Goal
