Neil Nails Arse Nail

Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal: FT Report

Rookie striker Neil Mellor hit an injury-time winner which will be as appreciated on the Kings Road as it was on the Kop as Liverpool snatched a 2-1 win against Arsenal.

The injury-ravaged Reds looked good for a draw at home to the champions when Mellor, included in the team because of injuries to Djibril Cisse, Milan Baros and Luis Garcia, lashed home to sentence the Gunners to only their second defeat in 55 league games.

His goal means Arsenal remain five points behind Barclays Premiership leaders Chelsea. Liverpool had led in the first half through an exquisite Xabi Alonso strike.

Patrick Vieira equalised but then gave more sustenance to Chelsea's title ambitions by fouling Alonso and getting booked, meaning he misses the crucial league game against Jose Mourinho's men next month.

Liverpool produced a display of effort, commitment and character which will gladen the heart of worried boss Rafael Benitez, who had admitted he had endured some sleepless nights because of his club's injury problems.

Benitez shuffled his depleted pack, bringing in youngster Florent Sinama-Pongolle in attack while Alonso and Harry Kewell returned to the starting line-up after the Champions League defeat in Monaco.

Arsenal had Thierry Henry and Jose Antonio Reyes fit while Dennis Bergkamp was out with an Achillies problem.

Gerrard's drive and leadership was critical to his patched-up team from the start. After just two minutes he surged into the box and, after cutting inside Kolo Toure, tumbled after what most Liverpool fans claimed was a trip by the Gunners defender. Referee Alan Wiley thought otherwise.

Alonso saw a 20-yard shot curl well wide and Gerrard sent in a free-kick that deflected off the wall for a corner, from which Dietmar Hamann's drive was also blocked.

However, all too often when the ball was played into Mellor, despite his honest toil he rarely maintained possession.

Arsenal were tentative but Henry, Reyes and Robert Pires threatened to dismantle the home side on a couple of occasions.

Undaunted, Liverpool drove forward again and Steve Finnan sent a curling cross to the far post from which Kewell's header was plucked out of the air by Lehmann. Then an Alonso corner was met by Sami Hyypia eight yards out but his header cleared the bar.

By now, Liverpool's hounding and running had knocked Arsenal out of their stride. It was far from pretty but the home side were growing in confidence.

And their efforts were rewarded after 41 minutes when they stormed into the lead. Finnan's cross-field ball was nodded down by Kewell and Gerrard hesitated before threading it through into the path of Alonso, who steered his shot high into the net.

Once Liverpool had weathered the opening few minutes of the second half, they began to threaten again. Gerrard was leading by example while even Kewell was starting to win tackles.

A string of Gerrard corners, plus some neat control from Sinama-Pongolle kept Arsenal on the back foot. Then Hamann motored onto a pass 25 yards out to force Lehmann into a save to his left.

But Arsenal are at their most dangerous in such circumstances, with teams coming onto them thinking they are in control.

And after 57 minutes the visitors put together a sustained passing move which included Lauren and Henry and ended with Pires guiding the ball into Vieira's path in the box.

The Arsenal skipper deftly lifted the ball over Chris Kirkland's dive and into the net for a stunning equaliser. A minute later, though, Vieira spoiled his good work when he clattered into Alonso and was booked.

Arsenal brought on Robin van Persie for Reyes as Liverpool visibly tired. The home side introduced Antonio Nunez in place of Sinama-Pongolle, the former Real Madrid man making his first appearance for the club after suffering a knee injury in pre-season.

Vieira then went down with Hamann not even having made contact - an act worthy of a booking, and thus a sending-off, but he escaped.

Gerrard forced his way down the left to see a shot parried by Lehmann, and then went even closer when Mellor and Nunez had battled to get the ball into the box. Gerrard latched on to the ball and forced Lehmann into a save to his right.

Six minutes from time Henry was booked for following through to leave Alonso on the floor with tension running high.

Arsenal's movement was stretching Liverpool in all directions, and Henry almost jinked his way into the box only for Kirkland to snatch the ball off his toes.

But suddenly Arsenal were beaten when, in injury-time, Mellor found space after Kirkland's clearance and slammed the ball past the despairing dive of Lehmann to secure a famous win for Liverpool.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was left reeling after his side failed to close the five-point gap on Barclays Premiership leaders Chelsea after a 2-1 defeat at Liverpool.

The Highbury chief now also has skipper Patrick Vieira banned for the league match with Chelsea following his fifth booking of the season.

But Wenger claimed: 'I am not really too concerned about what Chelsea are doing, I am more concerned with us getting back on track. We have to regroup and find our way back to our best form.'

For Arsenal it was their second defeat in 55 league matches, but also their second in their last six in the Premiership.

The rot set in when they lost their long unbeaten record at Manchester United and now they have taken just six points from six matches and suffered another defeat on their travels.

Wenger said: 'We are not incisive enough. I do not think there is too much wrong but when you lose the errors are highlighted.

'Liverpool played very well. They were very organised, quicker to the ball than us and although their winner was brilliant from their point of view, for us it was a bad goal.

'We conceded a goal direct from their goalkeeper's kick, from one end to the back of our net. That is not good enough from our point of view.

'Things are not going our way, but we have to show we are good enough to cope and handle the fact that everything seems to be going against us.

'Maybe we looked fatigued, we had to play with nine men in midweek and maybe it took a lot out of us but Liverpool were sharper and it is difficult to find an explanation.

'When we equalised I felt we were going to go on and win the game, and sometimes it nearly happened. But they were focused, disciplined, very direct but also efficient.'

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insisted victory was a reward for a tremendous, competitive display from his team.

He said: 'This was a very, very good game and after 90 minutes of running and tackling the players got their reward with a fantastic victory. It makes everyone very proud.

'We saw great goals, but for me the best one was at the end. I was delighted for Neil Mellor. He was up front playing against two very good centre-halves and kept going right to the end.

'We had decided to play with just one striker, and with Harry Kewell, Steven Gerrard and Florent Sinama-Pongolle supporting him and the system proved to be very effective.

'Steven played well behind Mellor, in the end that was a key part of the game. We have lots of good midfield players and it is important to find their best roles; certainly Steven looked good in the role he played.

'We wanted to control the game and not let them into their stride because they have very good players and we wanted to go at them from the start to stop them taking a control. All our team did their jobs superbly.

'Before the game I was sure that we could end the season in the top four and after the match I feel the same.

'We scored two very good goals but the second was very pleasing. For Neil to score his first Premiership goal in front of the Kop was a great moment.

'The win is good for him, for the club, for the supporters and all the squad. It will work wonders for our strength of character and the mentality we take into games from now on.'