The disappointment is now as searing for Liverpool as the excitement of this wild encounter. They top the Premier League purely on goal difference and Manchester United, with two games in hand, must hunger for tonight's match against Portsmouth at Old Trafford. Liverpool will find the quartet of goals from Andrey Arshavin hard to tolerate, particularly since he had scored just twice for Arsenal since arriving from Zenit St Petersburg in mid-season.

Dejection has taken on a spectacular form for Rafael Benítez and his squad. Professionalism prevents them from revelling in this exhilarating encounter. The manager will know only that his side has become brittle at a critical phase. After all, it was Chelsea's 3–1 win here that, in effect, removed them from the Champions League a fortnight ago.

Arsenal were uncontainable and took the lead, for a third time, in the 90th minute. They broke from a Liverpool corner and the substitute Theo Walcott set up Arshavin for the simplest of his goals. The Russian's execution was flawless throughout and every shot he struck here hit the net.

Liverpool's endeavour was an unsatisfactory alternative for the command demanded of aspiring champions, but their spirit did deserve to be saluted when Yossi Benayoun, with his second goal, levelled in stoppage time after Javier Mascherano and the substitute Ryan Babel gave him the opening.

The sheer desire of Arsenal to compete was a great credit to Arsène Wenger and his squad. They have nothing at stake in these late days of their League campaign. Liverpool, for their part, have assumed an altered identity that does not suit them in the least. They have scored 13 goals and shipped 11 in their last four outings.

Benítez did not savour this spectacle, but those who were enthralled are indebted to his men and to Arsenal. Excitement kept rippling around Anfield and the superb Benayoun acted throughout as if he anticipated being the key factor.

Whether overwrought or merely unlucky, Liverpool could not capitalise on initial ebullience and fell behind nine minutes from the interval. Mascherano delayed after taking a pass from Fabio Aurelio and was challenged by Cesc Fábregas. The Arsenal captain then collected a return ball from Samir Nasri and sent in a low cross that Arshavin slammed home off the underside of the bar.

This boisterous occasion might have been a kind of rehabiliation for Lukasz Fabianski, the Arsenal goalkeeper who had been at fault in the 2–1 FA Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea last Saturday. A clean sheet would have been preferable to the Pole, but there was plenty of valuable work for him to carry out. Early in the game, he had to make a double block at the feet of Benayoun and then Dirk Kuyt.

It is ironic that there was so much dread at Liverpool over the loss of Steven Gerrard to an adductor muscle injury, because his dynamism has not been missed in the slightest by the team. They have lost their rigour and embraced gusto instead. Fabianski had twice to turn away drives by Torres that were smacked from outside the area. There was also a goal-line clearance from Nasri after Daniel Agger connected with a corner in the 31st minute.

But Liverpool's control was far from complete and Arsenal's opener was not the first moment in which the visitors provoked fear. After Agger headed out a cross in the 29th minute, Nicklas Bendtner failed narrowly to touch Fábregas's volley into the net.

The warning went unheard by Liverpool as Arshavin, with his opener, started to put their prospects of the league title in jeopardy. Arsenal, however, failed to make the frustrations mount quickly. With four minutes of the second half gone an inept clearance by Bacary Sagna invited Kuyt to cross from the right and Torres converted at the near post with a header.

Seven minutes later, Fabianski twice failed to boot the ball far enough away. The left-back Kieran Gibbs then lost possession to Kuyt. The Dutchman again sent in a deep cross and Benayoun put Liverpool in front with a header that sent the ball over the line before it was clawed out by Fabianski.

In an elated stadium, Arsenal were equally energised by the atmosphere. The visitors were level in 67 minutes when Alvaro Arbeloa was lax enough to let Arshavin have possession. From the fringes of the area, he sent a wonderful drive bending past the left hand of Pepe Reina. There was nothing composed about Liverpool on this highly-charged night and Arsenal soon re-established a lead as Aurelio's weak clearance left Arshavin to complete the hat-trick.

Liverpool levelled at 3–3, however, as Torres held off Mikael Silvestre before dispatching a low ball from Albert Riera. For once, however, a team galvanised by the Anfield atmosphere could not land the decisive blow and instead revealed their own glass jaw.