Arsenal atoned on Friday for its most disappointing week of the season, rallying behind a Thierry Henry hat trick to defeat Liverpool 4-2 at Highbury to keep the Gunners in command in the Premier League.
Henry, who shrugged off a back injury to start the game, saved Arsenal. But it was a two-goal outburst by Robert Pires and Henry in just over a minute to begin the second half that inspired the Gunners after trailing 2-1 at halftime.
Another loss would have been a disaster.
PHOTO: EPA
The Gunners were eliminated last weekend from the FA Cup semifinals by bitter rival Manchester United. Three days later they were upset by London rival Chelsea, ousting them from the quarterfinals of the prestigious Champions League.
Arsenal remained unbeaten in the league and has seven matches to play.
"He [Henry] was amazing but as well the team," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "It's really amazing how they find the resources.
"You can't get worse than losing a Champions League game with two minutes to go and no time to respond. The way the team responded today is absolutely magnificent."
Arsenal leads the league with 77 points followed by Chelsea (70), Manchester United (62), Liverpool (49), Newcastle (48) and Birmingham City (46).
The Gunners made a terrible start when Sami Hyypia's header gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead after only five minutes. Henry equalized in the 31st, only to see Liverpool go ahead again three minute from the break on Michael Owen's goal.
The difference turned on Pires' goal in the 49th and Henry's second in the 50th.
Pires scored after threading a pass to Freddie Ljungberg. The Swede gave it back and the Frenchman rolled it behind 'keeper Jerzy Dudek.
Seventy seconds later, Henry raced from midfield and, in a solo effort, beat Dietmar Hamann and Jamie Carragher -- and then beat Dudek, again.
Henry sealed the victory with his hat-trick goal in the 78th.
"We have answered some questionmarks about ourselves," Henry said. "People said we were dead and, in one sense, we were. You lose two games in four days and everyone is thinking you're not a good team any more. But we showed our mentality once again."
Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier said beforehand Arsenal would play like "a wounded animal." He was right.
"I thought they were better than us, particularly in the second half," Houllier said. "We were better probably in the first half, but they were stunning in the second half and they couldn't play any better.
"The game was probably decided on an individual moment of brilliance by Thierry, which probably effected the morale of the team because after that we didn't as if we were coming back into the game."
In Friday's other match, Everton defeated Tottenham 3-1 as the Toffies dominated.
Everton took a 3-0 halftime lead on goals by David Unsworth (17th), Gary Naysmith (24th) and Joseph Yobo (40th). Steve Carr scored for Tottenham in the 75th. He was sent off two minutes later for his second yellow card.
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