It's not often that on one weekend, every result goes in Arsenal's favour: Saturday saw Manchester City draw, Chelsea draw, Tottenham lose and Manchester United lose. Sunday's game at Liverpool would surely end in heartbreak; Arsenal never get everything their way, right?

Well for 45 minutes it certainly looked like that was going to be the case. Liverpool had their best team out, Arsenal had out a side ravaged by injuries. Arshavin was again started in the middle of the front three, and Traoré was still deputising at left-back. Every game is a must win game for Rafa Benitez's side in what has become the race for fourth, and after a frenetic start the home side were the first to settle. Going forward the gunners were unimpressive, allowing too large a gap to exist between midfield and the strikers, and Arshavin looked awfully lonely up front, with only the ineffective Walcott and Nasri to keep him company.

Liverpool on the other hand were extremely lively: Torres was played in behind the defence but shot tamely at Almunia. Gerrard went down shortly after, having been bundled over by Gallas in the box. Tricky one to call, as Gerrard had lost control of the ball, but how far does ahead of the player must the ball go for a foul in the box to not constitute a penalty? Something of a grey area, probably a penalty on balance, and a stroke of bad luck for Liverpool (although cynical viewers might claim that Liverpool have been riding their luck for years and it's about time it ran out, or that if Gerrard stayed on his feet more then referees might feel more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt when he does go down. Not me though. I'm staying well out).

It didn't seem to matter much though when, four minutes before the break, Almunia flapped at a corner, allowing to ball to land at the feet of Dirk Kuyt who prodded home. Playing the way they did in the first half Arsenal seemed set to concede a bunch more in the second, but a strange thing happened during the interval. Wenger got mad. Throwing stuff at the walls, foaming at the mouth, Lou Ferrigno 'you wouldn't like me when I'm mad' mad. When I said last week that I hoped Arsenal would develop a more chelsea-like mentality, it was, at best, wishful thinking, and I didn't think any kind of replication would manifest itself in a Mourinho style half time rant, but that's what we got. 'You're not fit to wear the shirt' said Wenger, and suddenly there was a lot more than just points at stake for the Arsenal players. Wenger's respect is not to be taken for granted, and you could see by the wry smile on his face that his players realised this and moreover, done something about it.

First a slice of luck let Arsenal back into the game, Glen Johnson unable to shift his feet in time, prodding the ball into his own net, before Andrey Arshavin, scourge of Anfield, produced a sublime moment of individual skill, pouncing on a loose ball before hammering the ball beyond Reina off the upright. The question of course remained, could Arsenal close out an unlikely win in front of the Kop, and the answer was an unequivocal yes. Liverpool had no answer for the visitors resolute defending, and barely registerd a shot in the second half. Vermaelen earned his man of the match award as he and Gallas made light work of keeping Torres and co at bay.

So it was that Arsenal managed their first win at Anfield since Robert Pires scored a wonder goal there almost six years ago. The suggestion now is that the Gunners are right back in the title race; winning their game in hand would see them overtake Man Utd on goal difference. Assertions that Arsenal can keep pace with Chelsea and Utd seem knee-jerk at best, the squad is simply too thin to maintain a challenge beyond January, but real pleasure must be taken in knowing that this team at least knows how to see out games, even in the most hostile surroudings. Also Wenger can throw a half time hissy-fit. Who knew?