Neil Mellor drove home a 30m shot for the winner deep into injury time as Arsenal tumbled 2-1 at Liverpool on Sunday to fall five points behind Chelsea in the Premier League title race.
A young striker who's only on the Liverpool lineup because of long term injuries to Milan Baros and Djibril Cisse punished a rare mistake by Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure who failed to deal with a long clearance by goalkeeper Chris Kirkland.
PHOTO: AP
The ball came free to Mellor who beat Patrick Vieira to the loose ball and aimed a low shot that flew past Jens Lehmann inside the far post for the winner.
The victory lifted Rafael Benitez' team up to seventh in the standings. But it was another bad loss for Arsene Wenger's men who now see Chelsea well clear in the title race after the Blues' 4-0 victory at Charlton on Saturday. Chelsea has 36 points from 15 games and Arsenal has 31.
"The way we lost the game was difficult to take because the game was over," Wenger said. "[Mellor] took a chance out of nowhere and we have to take it."
"We play many games at the moment and have no time to recover," said the Arsenal manager, whose team visits Manchester United in a League Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday and faces Chelsea in the Premier League in two weeks time.
"It was a fantastic result after a fantastic game," Benitez said. "All the goals were very, very good and the last one at the end of the game was a fantastic one."
Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso fired Liverpool ahead four minutes before half time after a high quality move that began with a long accurate pass from Steve Finnan. Steven Gerrard fed the Spaniard with a well-timed pass into space and he fired home.
But that goal was matched by a typical Arsenal strike, Vieira stroking the ball past the 'keeper after Robert Pires and Thierry Henry had opened up the Liverpool defense with one-touch passes on the edge of the area.
Tottenham's miserable run of six losses in a row ended with an impressive 2-0 beating of high-flying Middlesbrough while third place Everton managed a 1-1 tie at Newcastle.
Spanish midfielder Nacho Novo fired Glasgow Rangers to the top of the Scottish Premier League with two goals in a 3-2 beating of Hearts as defending champion Celtic was held 2-2 at last place Dundee.
Alex McLeish's men, who trailed Celtic by seven points a month ago, went behind at home to Hearts when Paul Hartley put the visitor ahead from the penalty spot in the 16th minute.
But the Gers leveled in the final minute of the first half when Hearts' Jamie McAllister deflected in Peter Lovenkrands' cross to Fernando Ricksen for an own goal.
Novo fired Rangers ahead in the 56th minute but Hearts hit back with an equalizer from Mark de Vries 10 minutes later.
A tie would have kept Rangers back in second place but Novo headed home a lofted pass from Stephen Hughes with eight minutes to go for the winner.
Two goals by Steve Lovell stopped Martin O'Neill's Celtic collecting three points at Dundee.
Lovell gave Dundee the lead at Dens Park with a goal 10 minutes before half time but strikes in nine minutes after the break by Henri Camara and John Hartson gave the defending champion a 2-1 lead.
But Lovell struck again with 14 minutes to go when he lobbed home a cross from Garry Brady.
While the tie dragged Celtic off the top, it also took Dundee off the bottom with Livingston now in last place despite a 3-1 victory at Kilmarnock on Saturday.
Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid ended a two-game winless slide with a 5-0 victory over seventh-placed Levante at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Madrid, which had David Beckham at his usual slot on the right and Luis Figo unfamiliarly on the left, rallied from last week's 3-0 loss to FC Barcelona and a 1-1 midweek draw with Bayer Leverkusen to remain in second place, seven points behind its Catalan rival.
Barcelona, which beat Getafe 2-1 on Saturday, leads the league with 32 points. Espanyol is third with 23 points, one more than defending champion Valencia, which beat Mallorca 2-0. Real Betis is fifth with 21 points.
Beckham, Figo and Michael Owen also scored for Madrid, which has won five of its last six league matches.
In a late match, Emiliano Moretti scored in the 30th and Ruben Baraja added the insurance in the 64th as Valencia beat Mallorca 2-0.
Earlier, Ricardo Oliveira scored two goals to lift Betis into fifth place with its victory over Villarreal.
Ailton scored his fifth goal in seven matches to lift Schalke past Bielefeld 2-1 and within two points on leader Bayern Munich.
The Brazilian forward, who has regained form since his return from a five-match suspension, netted the match-winner after beating an offsides trap in the 38th minute. Ailton led the league with 27 goals last season while playing for champion Werder Bremen.
The visitors wasted several attempts in the lively match at AufSchalke Arena, including a penalty that was blocked by Schalke goalkeeper Frank Rost.
Bielefeld, which entered the match in a surprising seventh place, took a 1-0 lead in the 20th when Ruediger Kauf scored off a long-distance shot. Levan Kobiaschvili equalized eight minutes later for Schalke.
Defender Mladen Krjstajic, who Schalke bought from Werder, then sent a through pass to Ailton which just beat the offsides trap. The Brazilian just had to tap the ball past the goalkeeper.
"This was the best match I've seen in months," Schalke general manager Rudi Assauer said. "I couldn't believe Bielefeld has that strong a team."
Schalke is 12-1-1 since coach Ralf Rangnick took over, including winning eight of nine in the league.
Third-place Stuttgart lost a chance to keep pace with the leaders in a 0-0 draw against Hannover 96 in a match played in the rain with few scoring chances.
Serie A leader Juventus wasted a two-goal lead in the second half and was held to a 2-2 draw by Inter Milan at San Siro, losing ground to defending champion AC Milan. Second-place Milan clawed to within four points of La Juve after beating Chievo Verona 1-0.
Juventus, fielding the league's best defense, seemed in control of the match after goals by strikers Marcelo Zalayeta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave the visitors a 2-0 lead by the 66th minute.
Second-half substitute Christian Vieri, fed by another late entry Alvaro Recoba, made it 2-1 with a diagonal shot in the 79th. And Brazil striker Adriano scored the equalizer in the 85th off a perfect cross from Obafemi Martins.
Zalayeta had netted his sixth goal of the season in the 52nd, deflecting with his thigh a drive by Czech teammate Pavel Nedved.
Ibrahimovic converted a penalty in the 66th after Zalayeta was fouled by Inter goalkeeper Francesco Toldo as he was rushing unmarked toward the net.
The draw gave Juventus 32 points in the table. Unbeaten Inter's 11th draw of the season left it struggling in seventh place with 17 points.
Defenders Maxwell and Julien Escude each scored a goal and had a hand in another, leading Ajax to a 4-1 over RBC Roosendaal victory that moved it past Feyenoord and into third place in the Dutch first division.
Ajax improved to 28 points, one more than Feyenoord, which allowed two goals in the final 16 minutes and settled for a 2-2 draw at SC Heerenveen.
PSV Eindhoven beat FC Twente Enschede 2-0 Saturday for its 11th straight win and improved to 38 points after 14 rounds, five points ahead of AZ Alkmaar, which won 2-1 at FC Groningen.
Lille and Sochaux both lost ground on leader Lyon. Second-place Lille dropped five points behind the three-time defending champions after being held to a 1-1 draw by Strasbourg. Sochaux, which entered the match with an eight-game unbeaten streak, lost to Lens 2-1. Lyon, which beat Auxerre 2-1 on Saturday, leads the league with 36 points.
Osaze Peter Odemwingie scored a late equalizer for Lille after Mamadou Niang gave Strasbourg the lead in the 56th minute.
Sochaux went ahead in the 72nd minute when Souleymane Diawara scored, but Daniel Cousin replied for Lens four minutes later. El-Hadji Pape Sarr netted the match-winner in injury time.
Nice and Paris Saint-Germain drew 1-1. Fabrice Pancrate put PSG in the lead in the 36th minute, but Sammy Traore equalized from the penalty spot in the 66th.
Leiria extended Benfica's winless streak to three, winning 1-0 while Sporting Lisbon won its fifth in its last seven with a 4-1 victory over next-to-last placed Moreirense.
Benfica, coming off two draws, trailed when Carlos Fangueiro scored in the 13th minute and never appeared close to getting an equalizer as it suffered its second defeat of the season.
The Lisbon club, which was runner-up last season and is now playing under Italian coach Giovanni Trappatoni, set the pace early in the season but remained with 22 points, tied with Porto and Braga a point behind Boavista.
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