ARSENAL, all but invincible in the Premiership for over a year, found themselves five points behind leaders Chelsea yesterday after being beaten 2-1 by Liverpool at Anfield.
And, to make matters worse for Gunners manager Arsene Wenger, skipper Patrick Vieira will be suspended for the Stamford Bridge showdown with their London rivals on December 12 after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.
Arsenal looked set to earn a point after Vieira scored 12 minutes into the second half to cancel out the wonder-goal scored by Xabi Alonso four minutes before half-time. But there was to be a dramatic twist in the tale and Neil Mellor struck to score a sensational winner just seconds before the final whistle.
A stunned Wenger said: "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 only their second defeat in 55 league matches, but their second in their last six in the Premiership. The rot set in when they lost their long unbeaten record at Manchester United and they now have taken just six points from six matches.
Wenger added: "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.
"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. Liverpool were sharper.
"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 and very efficient."
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insisted victory was a reward for a tremendous, competitive display from his injury-hit 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.
"Steven (Gerrard) played well behind Mellor and 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.
"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."