An exuberant Liverpool side proved to be too much for Arsenal in their English Premier League encounter late on Saturday, beating the Gunners 3-1 thanks to goals from Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Giorgino Wijnaldum, climbing to third spot in the table in the process.

Emre Can and Ragnar Klavan started for the hosts but it was the visiting team’s change that made social media go into a frenzy as Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger perplexingly decided to bench talismanic winger Alexis Sanchez in favour of Olivier Giroud.

The Chilean, who is the league’s joint top-scorer, has been petulant in recent weeks as Arsenal’s season has crumbled and with Wenger confirming prior to the game that there was no injury scare, it was obvious the manager was making an example of his star player.

And the bold tactic backfired spectacularly as the home side raced into a two-goal lead in the first half itself and could easily have had a couple more, such was their dominance.

Roberto Firmino, scoreless in six games, opened the scoring with a sweeping counter attack which caught the entire Arsenal team napping in the 9th minute. Simon Mignolet booted the ball upfield and found Sadio Mane with acres of space near the right edge of the box. The African feigned to shoot but instead, sent in a low cross which missed Philippe Coutinho but found Firmino instead. The ex-Hoffenheim star took a touch before finishing past Petr Cech to get the Reds’ party started.

Mane then doubled the lead with after some good work from the hard-working James Milner on the right wing and while the ball was intended for Firmino, he found his path to goal blocked so he spun and laid it off for his Senegalese teammate instead. And the ever-lethal Mane didn't fluff his lines, emphatically finishing five minutes from half-time to put the hosts two goals to the good.

The Gunners had been quite pedestrian in the first-half, with Olivier Giroud’s header in the 21st minute stretching Mignolet, but nothing apart from that and Wenger was forced to send Sanchez on in a bid to spark some life into his side.

They did start the second half in better fashion than the first and reduced the deficit with a well-taken finish by Danny Welbeck in the 55th minute, which momentarily sparked fears at Anfield of a Gunners comeback.

Liverpool, however, dominated proceedings after that and had several chances to reestablish their two-goal cushion but were let down by their own profligacy in a game that was very much end-to-end.

And as Arsenal sent on Lucas Perez and Theo Walcott in search of an equaliser, there was always a chance that Liverpool could hurt them on the counter and that is exactly what happened.

Adam Lallana deftly held up play near the halfway line before turning his marker and releasing substitute Divock Origi on the wing. The young Belgian was marginally offside but with no flag raised, he sent in a low cross for Wijnaldum to guide into the back of the net in the 91st minute.

A must-win game for both sides, Liverpool once again came up big against a direct rival and suddenly, Anfield is full of belief once again.

For Arsenal and Wenger in particular, perhaps the time is right to look at a managerial change in the summer as they find themselves slipping to fifth place in the league table.