Granit Xhaka’s Misjudged Moment Throws Premier League Title Race Open

After half an hour of Sunday’s Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal, the team from North London was in complete control.

Arsenal, the league leader and bidding for a first league championship since 2004, was 2-0 ahead within half an hour. The team had capitalized on poor defending from Liverpool to score two simple goals. Murmurs and cries showed the Anfield crowd was frustrated, some already resigned to another defeat in a desperately disappointing season.

With five minutes to go until half-time, Arsenal’s Swiss midfielder, Granit Xhaka, thought he should have been awarded a foul. He wasn’t, and Xhaka reacted by getting to his feet and barging Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold after the ball had been played.

Alexander-Arnold is the darling of the Liverpool support. The 24-year-old was born in Liverpool and is a hugely talented passer – even if this season his defensive weaknesses have often been exposed. Xhaka could hardly have picked a worse target.

Alexander-Arnold reacted to the late challenge with a shove in Xhaka’s back before the two players came chest to chest and then, in the strange way elite soccer players like to do, forehead to forehead.

Teammates rushed in to break them up before the referee showed each player a yellow card.

The incident would have been innocuous but for the effect on the home crowd. Suddenly, the crowd was up for the fight. It roared Liverpool forward. Two minutes later, Liverpool scored.

In the second half, Liverpool attacked Arsenal relentlessly before scoring the equalizing goal near the end of the match.

The incident between Xhaka and Alexander-Arnold was clearly a turning point. The BBC program Match of the Day pointed out that before the flashpoint Liverpool had 52% possession and four shots. After, it was 63% possession and 17 shots.

“He nudged me off the ball, so it’s a natural reaction to do it back. It got the crowd going,” Alexander-Arnold said after the match.

For Xhaka, the question was why he would do anything to get “the crowd going” at a ground where Arsenal has not won for more than a decade.

Jamie Carragher, a pundit for Sky Sports and former Liverpool player, struggled to understand Xhaka’s motivation.

“I mean what is he thinking though, Xhaka? Two nil up away at Anfield, throws his arm or something into Trent. Just ridiculous. Trent reacts and then the crowd gets up, the ball’s already gone. It’s two nil, moments before half-time,” Carragher said.

The answer to what Xhaka was thinking, may be that he was not. That it was not a calculated decision to make a late challenge on Alexander-Arnold but an instinct he could not control.

Much like when he responded angrily to the Arsenal crowd booing him in October, 2019, and took off his jersey after being substituted. It seemed likely at the time that Xhaka would never play for Arsenal again, yet he has regained his place as a vital player in Mikel Arteta’s starting 11. His personal resurgence has been reflected in the team, which has improved hugely since last season’s fifth-placed finish.

Xhaka will always be an aggressive, passionate player. To take that edge from his game would make him less effective. It is an attribute that makes Xhaka both an excellent player and, at times, a liability to his team.

After losing the two-goal lead, Arsenal is six points ahead of second-placed Manchester City. City, the defending champion, has a game in hand. Crucially, City will host Arsenal in what could be a title-deciding match later in April.

Arsenal has eight matches left and, if it does not win the title, Xhaka’s moment of misjudgment will not be the reason. There are numerous potential turning points in a match, let alone a Premier League season. Even without the Xhaka-Alexander-Arnold incident, the crowd may have found another moment to grab hold of to inspire a Liverpool comeback. A draw at Anfield, even against a Liverpool team having a difficult season, is not a bad result.

But there is no doubt this was the moment when this match changed. There will be plenty of other important moments before the end of the season. Arsenal, and Xhaka, will hope Sunday’s is not one they live to regret.