There comes a very specific point in each Premier League season when managers and players are forced into a reluctant acceptance that their season-long ambitions may not in fact be realised. Such moments arrive before the maths say it is no longer possible but the shuddering realisation is arguably even more deflating than when it is made official.

For Liverpool, that queasy sensation most recently came with defeat to Crystal Palace in April of last year that left many forced to accept that Jurgen Klopp would not in fact end his Anfield career as a Premier League winner.

Two years earlier, that same sickening feeling arrived with the last blast of the referee's whistle to confirm Manchester City’s 3-2 comeback over Aston Villa on the final day of the campaign. Despite the Reds ending with 92 points, the title stayed at the Etihad.

READ MORE: Liverpool player ratings as Mohamed Salah the hero and three others excellent at Bournemouth

READ MORE: Liverpool away end message clear as Mohamed Salah reaches ridiculous new landmark

Fate dawned slightly earlier in 2019 when Vincent Kompany spanked home what is now something of an iconic winning goal against Leicester City and Reds supporters of a certain vintage still wince at the merest mention of the name Federico Macheda.

So Mikel Arteta's sinking feeling could quite well have come after 75 minutes here at the Vitality Stadium.

Few sides had made it as difficult for the title-chasing Reds as Bournemouth had all season, but having failed to get back on level terms with their second-half onslaught following Mohamed Salah's first-half penalty, it was left to Liverpool's superstar to kill off the hopes of their hosts with a sublime second. The question now is: did Salah also do the same to Arsenal in the process?

That might have been the moment that Arteta comes to eventually view as the one that damaged his own title pretensions irreparably and while the Gunners boss will no doubt publicly refuse to throw in any towel until it goes from mathematically improbable to impossible, this 2-0 win here will take wind from the sails in North London undoubtedly.

What else could the Arsenal reaction be after seeing Arne Slot's side - who still have a game in hand at Everton to be played - go nine points clear ahead of their own visit from Manchester City on Sunday? This could yet be a defining weekend for all concerned when viewed in that light.

Victory against Pep Guardiola’s men will reaffirm the Gunners' belief that they can provide statement results in the chase for English football’s biggest crown but it will only leave them in the same position they started the week in.

And maybe that’s the point here? That such a massive three points, in an assignment as exacting as Manchester City, only takes them back to where they began: six behind Liverpool having played a game more. It’s an emotional heft that surely eats into the reserves of optimism at the Emirates.

Slot's decision to rest virtually all of his big guns for that game against PSV on Wednesday, with more than one eye on proceedings here, has proven to be an inspired one. The Reds might have slumped to just their third defeat this term out in Eindhoven but the wider picture enabled the league leaders to enjoy the benefits of a full week of training. It certainly showed here as they set about their in-form hosts like a side who now know they are fully in the midst of a critical period.

This was the third away fixture of a five-game sequence - Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Bournemouth, Everton and Manchester City - that has the potential to make or break the campaign and with seven points from nine so far, Slot's men appear in no mood to allow the increasing enormity of each match knock them from their stride. The opposite appears to be true, in fact.

Liverpool were perhaps fortunate to earn a penalty after half an hour when Cody Gakpo went through before a slight touch from Lewis Cook led to the Netherlands star tripping inside the area. A VAR check confirmed Darren England's decision, though, and Salah did the rest.

It's the fifth successive season the Egypt international has reached the 20-goal milestone as he joined legendary names in Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane in doing so. His second goal means he is now sixth in the list of top scorers in Premier League history with 178 and Aguero's haul of 184 will undoubtedly be next in the sights of the most prolific marksman of the past three decades at Anfield.

David Brooks thought he had fired the Cherries level but his goal was ruled out due to Milos Kerkez straying offside before crossing for his team-mate's smart finish. It was the right call but one that inevitably led to referee England being labelled as "Scouser" by the home fans. So incensed were the hosts, in fact, that the majority of the songs on the afternoon's hymn sheet was reserved solely for the official, instead of the players who still have them dreaming about Champions League qualification.

Andoni Iraola's side started the better of the two in the second half as Liverpool relied on an Ibrahima Konate block and a handful of Alisson Becker saves to keep their lead. Substitute Marcus Tavernier cannoned one off the post before Justin Kluivert fluffed the rebound and the Reds were made to dig in as their hosts looked to avoid a first defeat in 12.

Liverpool did stand firm though before Salah took centre stage once more. After shifting inside impressive left-back Kerkez, he registered his 25th goal of the campaign with the sort of ease that is usually reserved for garden kickabouts with his daughter. Two-nil. Game over.

The Egypt captain has been adamant that this campaign will be one he enjoys, regardless of what happens over his future and it is a mantra he is sticking by to the very end. Sporting director Richard Hughes, watching on from the stands against his former club, cannot fail to have been impressed. Now, how about that new contract?

Before that, all eyes now turn to the Emirates. What exactly have Arsenal got left in the tank?