Ruthless Gunners Trounce Liverpool For Easter

ARSENAL tightened their grip on a place in the Premier League’s top four while inflicting damage on Liverpool’s Champions League aspirations with a convincing victory at Emirates Stadium.

Manchester United defeated Aston Villa to move above Manchester City and into third place in the Premier League.

At the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners set the platform for a vital three points with a devastating burst of three goals in the last eight minutes of the first half from Hector Bellerin, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.

Raheem Sterling – starting up front for Liverpool after the midweek interview with the BBC that cast further doubt on his long-term Anfield future – battled hard and won a late penalty from which Jordan Henderson pulled a goal back.

In reality, however, this was little other than an afternoon of unrelenting misery for an abject Liverpool, who had Emre Can sent off for two bookable offences before Olivier Giroud delivered the final blow with a spectacular fourth for Arsenal in the closing seconds.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will feel a place in next season’s Champions League is now within his grasp but Liverpool’s hopes are fading as they followed up the 2-1 home defeat by Manchester United by being convincingly outplayed.

The win puts Arsenal nine points ahead of Liverpool with seven games left, while manager Brendan Rodgers’ side also trail Manchester United by five points before Saturday’s meeting with Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Sterling was a man in the spotlight after his outspoken explanation of his contract impasse at Anfield – and while he fought as hard as any Liverpool player to fashion something in a losing cause, he was powerless to influence events.

Liverpool were without captain Steven Gerrard and Martin Skrtel, who were serving three-match suspensions for stamping in last month’s match against Manchester United.

The decision to draft veteran Kolo Toure into defence, while he was certainly not solely to blame, contributed to a calamitous first 45 minutes at the back for the visitors.