Arne Slot has accused Arsenal of time-wasting and expressed his disappointment at being shown a yellow card during Liverpool's thrilling draw. The match saw Liverpool twice come from behind to secure a point. A stunning strike from Bukayo Saka put Mikel Arteta's side ahead, only for Virgil van Dijk to equalize with a header. Mikel Merino then scored his first goal for the club from a free-kick, but Mohamed Salah's 11th goal in 15 Premier League appearances against Arsenal leveled the score once more.
Slot, who had previously stated that 'tactical fouls or dark arts' were not on his mind, admitted to being surprised by the yellow card from referee Anthony Taylor. He protested the numerous stoppages in the game, noting that Arsenal players frequently went to the ground after gaining possession. 'There were so many times that they were on the floor, which can happen so many times in football,' he said. 'I don't blame them for that but it always happened after they had ball possession. That took the energy out of the game in my opinion.'
The draw leaves Liverpool one point behind league leaders Manchester City, with Arsenal trailing by four points in third place. Despite the result, Slot praised his team's resilience in coming back from behind. 'Today we had to fight really hard to get back into the game and that shows a great mentality,' he said. 'I think most Arsenal fans at half-time would have felt this will probably lead to a win for us but we can take the way we played in our second half performance into our next games.'
Mikel Arteta, on the other hand, refused to criticize Taylor for his decisions, including not sending off Van Dijk for a potential foul on Kai Havertz. He acknowledged that his team must now play catch-up with their rivals. 'You don't want to be in that position. You want to be ahead. But this is where we are,' he said. 'The team is alive, the team wants it. I feel it every single day. The players that cannot play there are upset, the ones getting injured, the players that are there they are in a good moment. Things will turn up and we are in a better place. But we are certainly there.'
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