After losing out to Liverpool in the title race, Arsenal had the humbling experience of forming a guard of honour for Virgil van Dijk to lead out the Reds ahead of his 300th PL appearance.
It was clear from the outset that the Gunners were still reeling from their midweek UEFA Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain, as Luis Díaz forced David Raya to make a superb reaction save in the opening 10 minutes at sun-drenched Anfield.
However, there was nothing the Arsenal goalkeeper could do to prevent the unmarked Cody Gakpo from heading in Andrew Robertson’s inviting near-post cross.
Just two minutes later, the home faithful were celebrating a swift second after Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah combined for Diaz to slide home his fourth goal in his last five league appearances.
Raya was then required to make a crucial intervention to prevent Curtis Jones from adding a third in a one-sided first half on Merseyside.
After keeping the deficit to two, the Gunners made a fast start to the second period to halve Liverpool’s lead within three minutes of the restart, with Gabriel Martinelli producing a glancing header from Leandro Trossard’s curling cross.
With Mikel Arteta’s men building up a head of steam, Liverpool boss Arne Slot decided to make a triple change, introducing Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez and the Real Madrid-bound Trent Alexander-Arnold - the latter receiving a mix of boos and applause following his decision to leave the club.
However, the changes did little to affect Arsenal’s building momentum, as Mikel Merino pounced on a rebound to head into the awaiting net after Alisson Becker had pushed Martin Odegaard’s long-range strike onto the post.
Unfortunately for Merino, his celebratory mood soon turned to anguish when he received a second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Szoboszlai, handing the hosts a numerical advantage for the closing stages.
The 10 men were given a major scare when Robertson found the net in the 95th minute, only for it to be swiftly disallowed to ensure the second-placed side picked up a useful point that puts them on the brink of UEFA Champions League qualification.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Leandro Trossard (Arsenal)