Aubameyang's fifth goal at Wembley and success on penalties: Arsenal beat Liverpool in the FA Super Cup

Arsenal's strong stats and Liverpool's attitude

The new football season in Europe is gradually approaching its beginning. No sooner had PSG and Bayern played the Champions League final when the Super Cup match took place in England, in which the champion of the country Liverpool met with the FA Cup winner Arsenal. 

Both teams came to the meeting with the same number of victories in this tournament. Both the Gunners and the Merseysides won the trophy 15 times. At the same time, until 1993, in the event of a draw, the victory in it was recognized as divided. Liverpool have five such matches, while Arsenal have only one. 

In the fight for the Super Bowl, the paths of the rivals had crossed three times before, and in two cases the Merseysides were stronger: in 1979 (3: 1) and 1989 (1: 0). But in 2002, luck smiled at Arsenal, who won with a minimum score. 

Since then, Londoners have won the trophy four more times, and three times - between 2014 and 2017. Liverpool, on the other hand, failed last year and lost on penalties to Manchester City.

However, in general, the matches with Liverpool in recent years have been unsuccessful for the Gunners. In July, Arsenal beat an opponent in the Premier League (2: 1), and this victory was the first for the capital team in the confrontation in five years. In all tournaments, the Lersisides inflicted six defeats and four draws on their opponent.

And Jurgen Klopp, who came to Liverpool in early 2016, did not lose to Liverpool at all for six years, until the streak ended this summer.  

As for the line-ups of the teams, they practically did not undergo any changes in comparison with the previous season. The reigning champion signed a contract only with Greek left-back Konstantinos Tsimikas, but he remained in reserve.

Of the newcomers to Londoners, only one got into the game - defender Cedric Soares. At the same time, Mikel Arteta, due to injuries, missed four players at once: Shkodran Mustafi, Matteo Guenduzi, Mesut Ozila and Gabriel Martinelli. Klopp, unlike his counterpart, did without losses and put all the strongest on the field of Wembley Stadium.

Zero Lerside shots on target and useless possession

Liverpool with the referee's starting whistle, as expected, took the ball under their control. In general, in the first half, the Lersisides owned 60% of the playing time. And already in the seventh minute, the reigning champion managed to open an account. Virgil van Dijk, after serving from the set, sent a shell into the wrong goal. However, the line judge reported an obvious offside position. 

But Arsenal realized the first moment. The Londoners launched a swift attack from the right flank, which Bukayo Saka developed with an excellent transfer to the opposite edge. 

Opponent's right-back Neko Williams allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to calmly take the ball, move to the center and deliver an aimed blow exactly to the far corner without a chance for Alison Becker.

This is how the Gabonese scored the fifth goal at Wembley in 42 days. On 18 July, he upset Manchester City twice in the FA Cup semi-finals, and on 1 August scored a double in the playoff against Chelsea.

Having missed, "Liverpool" was forced to go forward with even greater forces, but the team did little. She limited herself to transverse passes in someone else's half of the field and practically did not penetrate into someone else's penalty area. Numerous shots were calmly intercepted by the defenders.

In general, there was a feeling that Klopp's wards were under serious stress, and therefore did not move around the field quickly enough. 

But Arsenal's players on fresh legs were always ready to run away to counterattack, especially since the opponent left large free zones in his half. For example, in the middle of the half, the Londoners successfully turned on the pressure, took the ball away and almost increased the score. Alison Becker miraculously reacted to Edward Nketia's kick from outside the box.

The teams did not create more dangerous moments before the break. Moreover, for two they inflicted only eight hits, only two of which were on target. The Merseysides never managed to disturb Damian Martinez.

Klopp's lucky replacement and Brewster's fatal miss

However, Liverpool started the second half much more actively. The players did not have time to return to the field, as Roberto Firmino almost sent the ball into the far corner of the goal from the penalty line. The projectile flew a few centimeters from the bar.

And soon Sadio Mane went almost one-on-one with Martinez, but failed to outplay the Argentine.

Realizing that the opposition's pressure was starting to increase, Arteta refreshed the defensive line by bringing newcomer Soares to the left flank. Klopp responded with a double castling and released Takumi Minamino from Nabi Keita.

And with one of the substitutions, the German completely guessed. The Japanese actively entered the game and soon struck the long-awaited blow to the shots of others. Arsenal in this situation again saved Martinez. 

But after five minutes, Minamino still equalized the score. The ball bounced back to him after a successful rebound, and Takumi calmly shot into the far corner. At the same time, the impression was created that the attacker played along with his hand, but the referees, having watched the replay, decided to score the ball. By the way, this goal was the first for the Japanese in Liverpool.

In the time remaining before the final whistle, the Lersisides could easily snatch a strong-willed victory. So, Manet struck straight into Martinez from the corner of the goalkeeper, and Joseph Willock, who came on as a substitute, struck dangerously close to the post with his first touch of his head. 

But the teams did not manage to score, and Arsenal in the second half did not strike a single shot on Alison's goal. Thus, in the second season in a row, the winner of the Super Bowl was to be determined by the opponents in a penalty shootout. Last season, Klopp's wards were weaker than Manchester City, and the main time also ended with a score of 1: 1.

And again, in this component, luck turned away from Liverpool. All the opponent's footballers realized their attempts, but the only mistake of the Reds was made by young Rian Brewster, who entered the field specially for the "lottery" at the added time by the referee. The 20-year-old striker shot hard but hit the crossbar. 

This is how Arsenal won the England Super Cup for the fourth time in six years and came in second in terms of the number of victories in the tournament. Liverpool lost the trophy battle for the second year in a row.