Mikel Arteta makes Arsenal 'suffer' claim as he pays Liverpool a huge compliment

Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal's 'incredible' performance after they piled the pressure on Liverpool in the Premier League title race.

The Reds' lead at the summit of the table was slashed to two points after a 3-1 loss at the Emirates Stadium. Liverpool were well below their best and deserved to return to Merseyside empty handed.

Bukayo Saka opened the scoring for the Gunners in the 14th minute and Liverpool's equaliser was fortunate in first-half stoppage-time when the ball hit Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes and it inadvertently went into his own net.

Arsenal got back ahead on 67th minute following a calamitous mix-up between Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker and captain Virgil van Dijk that left Gabriel Martinelli to finish into an empty net. And after Liverpool were reduced to 10 men following Ibrahima Konate's second yellow card, Leandro Trossard wrapped up the three points for the hosts.

The Gunners are now breathing down the Reds' neck in the title race. And after losing to Liverpool in the FA Cup last month, Arteta told of his pride that the Gunners were triumphant.

The Arsenal manager said: "It was an extraordinary game. An incredible performance from the players and our people. That’s the best atmosphere I’ve seen all season. We demanded that. We had to go to a different level and connect it again to the demands that this league has. I think the players left absolutely everything.

"They put their heart and soul in every single ball. I cannot be any prouder because I know how hard it is to beat this team, how much you have to suffer and how much you have to process to do what we did on the ball. So big thank you.

"You have to (score ugly goals). We conceded a really poor goal and that really affected us. The dressing room was really touched at half-time, I could sense it. But you cannot feel sorry for yourself against this team because they’re going to punish you. We reacted really well after 10 or 15 minutes of suffering. We recovered control and we gave ourselves the big chance to win the game."