Liverpool, Oct 05: Arsenal come from behind to win 2-1 at Liverpool in English Premier League. Robert Pires scored a stunning winner as Arsenal came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield in an early kickoff on Saturday (October 4) briefly to extend their lead at the top of the English premier league to four points.
Defeat was harsh on Liverpool, who are now nine points off the pace in their pursuit of their first league title since 1990.
They deserved their 14th minute lead, Australian Harry 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 after the ball rebounded off Michael Owen's face. But Arsenal hit back against the run of play in the 30th minute. 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. After the break and just a week before England's vital Euro 2004 qualifying clash in Turkey, Michael Owen limped off after an awkward fall injured his ankle. Owen limped off and an X-ray showed no broken bones but he is in doubt for the Turkey match.



Things then got worse for Liverpool. Steven Gerrard lost possession in midfield in the 68th minute and Pires picked up a pass from Edu, 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.



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 closed the gap to one point when they beat Birmingham City 3-0 later at Old Trafford.



Results: Fulham 2 Leicester City 0 Leeds United 2 Blackburn Rovers 1 Liverpool 1 Arsenal 2 Manchester United 3 Birmingham City 0 Newcastle United 1 Southampton 0 Portsmouth 1 Charlton Athletic 2 Tottenham Hotspur 3 Everton 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Manchester City 0



Standings after Saturday's matches: P W D L F A Pts 1. Arsenal 8 6 2 0 16 6 20 2. Manchester United 8 6 1 1 16 3 19 3. Chelsea 6 5 1 0 16 6 16 4. Fulham 7 4 2 1 15 9 14 5. Birmingham City 7 4 2 1 8 5 14 6. Manchester City 8 3 3 2 14 9 12 7. Southampton 8 3 3 2 8 5 12 8. Liverpool 8 3 2 3 12 9 11 9. Charlton Athletic 8 3 2 3 12 12 11 10. Portsmouth 8 2 3 3 10 9 9 11. Blackburn Rovers 8 2 2 4 15 16 8 12. Everton 8 2 2 4 12 14 8 13. Tottenham Hotspur 8 2 2 4 8 12 8 14. Leeds United 8 2 2 4 8 17 8 15. Aston Villa 7 2 1 4 7 11 7 16. Middlesbrough 7 2 1 4 6 12 7 17. Bolton Wanderers 7 1 4 2 5 11 7 18. Newcastle United 7 1 3 3 8 10 6 19. Leicester City 8 1 2 5 10 15 5 20. Wolverhampton Wanderers 8 1 2 5 3 18 5



Playing on Sunday Aston Villa v Bolton Wanderers Middlesbrough v Chelsea


Bureau Report