The Premier League title race is coming down to the wire between Arsenal and Manchester City. Arsenal seemingly did everything to open the door for City in a 2-2 draw against Liverpool Sunday.
If not for a chance miss by Mohamed Salah and a very clutch save by Aaron Ramsdale, we’re probably having an entirely different conversation about City eventually chasing Arsenal down.
After the Gunners took an apparent commanding 2-0 lead, Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp’s battled back. While the Reds would eventually knot the match up anyway, Salah had a golden chance on an early second-half penalty to tighten the pressure.
He missed.
Mo Salah misses his penalty wide left. 😳
📺: @peacock | #LIVARS pic.twitter.com/nyAKXpuIih
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 9, 2023
Salah’s reputation as one of the best players in the world precedes him. So much so that Klopp was actually shocked the midfielder didn’t pot the penalty.
No matter. Liverpool found a way to keep matters interesting with Arsenal regardless. And in the closing seconds, the Reds and Ibrahima Konate almost buried the Gunners and put a cherry on top of an embarrassing collapse.
Except Ramsdale made a miraculous save to keep it level:
Konate was SO CLOSE to the late winner for Liverpool.
📺: @peacock | #LIVARS pic.twitter.com/Crmi9u3VYi
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 9, 2023
PHEW. Imagine being that close on the doorstep and not scoring. Imagine being the goalie, holding what might be an eventual Premier League title, in your gloves.
After holding a 2-0 lead, a draw is nonetheless awful news for Arsenal. They hold just a six-point lead on City in the Premier League Standings with eight games to play (City has nine remaining matches). But a loss would’ve been disastrous. A loss — with Salah conversely making his penalty and Ramsdale actually not being a hero — would’ve opened the door to almost certain chaos.