Martin Skrtel's goal in the seventh minute of added on time has rescued 10-man Liverpool a 2-2 draw in their Premier League meeting with Arsenal this evening.
The Gunners looked to have done enough to secure all three points at Anfield having battled back from behind, although a late twist to the contest saw Brendan Rodgers's charges secure a share of the spoils.
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Philippe Coutinho took advantage of a huge gap in the visiting side's midfield early on which forced Per Mertesacker into making a rash challenge on the edge of the penalty area, although Steven Gerrard could not hit the target with his subsequent free kick.
Some neat link-up play between Lazar Markovic and Adam Lallana allowed the latter to work away a shot on goal which flew narrowly over, as Liverpool took control of the possession stakes in the early stages.
The Reds continued to press as the first half wore on, and moments after Mertesacker denied Raheem Sterling - fielded in a central attacking position once more this afternoon - Coutinho unleashed an effort from long range which was hit straight at Wojciech Szczesny in the end.
Markovic squandered two good openings to edge his side ahead as Liverpool's profligacy began to tell, failing to convert after being played in by Gerrard before seeing his first-time curler fly wide of the target.
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Then came a manic couple of minutes on Merseyside as Coutinho finally gave the hosts the lead with a fine finish off the post following some sloppy Arsenal play, although Mathieu Debuchy managed to level things up against the run of play with the last piece of action of the half, out-jumping Skrtel to nod the ball home.
Skrtel required lengthy treatment on the field following a coming together with Olivier Giroud, which led to the early stages of the second half becoming broken up.
Things soon sparked back into life, however, with Lucas Leiva blasting over following a swift counter from Rodgers's men, while Sterling pounced on some hesitancy from Szczesny to round the Polish stopper, although Gerrard could not divert his header on target after being picked out by his teammate.
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Yet despite all the pressing from Liverpool it was Arsenal who edged ahead through Giroud, with the Frenchman managing to fire away a first-time shot between the legs Brad Jones after a quick one-two with Santi Cazorla.
Liverpool, who have now won just two of their last 15 meetings against today's opponents, pressed in search of an equaliser, and they very nearly found one when Coutinho was picked out in some space inside the area only to see his shot cut out by Cazorla.
Lucas tried his luck once more with 15 minutes remaining with a shot which swerved narrowly wide, just moments before Coutinho blew another decent opportunity by blasting over.
Liverpool were buoyed by the announcement of nine minutes of time being added on at the end as a result of Skrtel's earlier injury, and they almost found an equaliser when substitute Fabio Borini saw his header tipped over by Szczesny.
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That proved to be the Italian's last real involvement in the game after he was shown a second yellow card by referee Michael Oliver, but even with a man less the Reds battled back right at the death through Skrtel, who powered home his header to rescue a point for the hosts to round off a thrilling top-flight encounter.
The draw sees Arsenal cut the gap on fourth-placed West Ham United to four points, while Liverpool climb into the top half of the table.
Daniel Lewis
