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Robert Pires scored a stunning winner as Arsenal came from behind to beat Livepool 2-1 at Anfield on Saturday to extend their lead at the top of the English premier league to four points.
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The Frenchman picked up a pass from Edu after 68 minutes, ghosted along the
the edge of the Liverpool penalty area and curled a superb right foot shot into
the far corner of Jerzy Dudek's net from 20 metres.
Australian Harry Kewell had put Liverpool in front in the 14th minute with his first league goal since his summer move from Leeds United before Edu's deflected header put the Londoners level on the half hour. Ticketmaster
Arsenal's win extends their unbeaten start to the league season to eight matches and takes them four points clear of Chelsea, who play the first of their two games in hand at Middlesbrough on Sunday.
Defending champions Manchester United will close the gap to one point if they beat in-form Birmingham City at Old Trafford later.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will be relieved to have come through the match with just two bookings -- to Ashley Cole and Ray Parlour -- and no serious injuries. Ticketmaster
The Gunners' poor disciplinary record and a string of injuries have threatened to overshadow their fine start to the league season and derail their Champions League campaign.
England manager Sven Goran Eriksson will be less happy.
Just a week before England's vital Euro 2004 qualifying clash in Turkey, he saw Liverpool's Michael Owen limp off in the second half with what looked like an ankle injury.
Defeat was harsh on Liverpool, who are now nine points off the pace in their pursuit of their first league title since 1990. Ticketmaster
They dominated the first half and deserved their lead, Kewell drilling a low, first-time left foot shot across the face of goal and into the bottom right hand corner of Jens Lehmann's net.
But Arsenal hit back against the run of play.
Pires clipped in a free kick from the right after Ray Parlour had been brought down and Brazilian Edu's glancing header bounced in off the outstretched foot of Sami Hyypia.
Arsenal were a different side after the break, with the industrious Gilberto and Parlour making up for the absence in midfield of the injured Patrick Vieira and Fredrik Ljungberg.
They laboured to break down the Liverpool defence, however, and needed a stroke of genius from Pires to seal only their second victory at Anfield in 11 premier league visits.
"We were flattered by a 1-1 scoreline at halftime," Wenger told Sky Sports. "Liverpool were very good in the first half, but you saw the quality of this side in the second half when we controlled the game."