Arsenal came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 with a sensational goal from Andrei Arshavin.
The win lifted Arsenal to third in the table, six points behind leaders Chelsea, but with a game in hand.
Liverpool, meanwhile, remain seventh, five points off Aston Villa in fourth and a Champions League qualification spot.
They had taken a first-half lead through Dirk Kuyt, but an own goal from Glenn Johnson and then Arshavin’s wonder strike gave Arsenal the points.
“The boss screamed at us like I’ve never seen him before,” said Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.
“He was really disappointed in the first half and he said we didn’t deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt if we played like that.” Arsene Wenger admitted he had been furious.
“The first half was all Liverpool and we were quite happy with the 1-0 because it could have been two and the game would have been over,” said Wenger.
“We lost all the 50-50s. When you lose the 50-50s you don’t win the game I had to make the players conscious that their commitment was harder than ours.
“It’s good for our morale. Because we lost against Manchester United and Chelsea there was a fear of losing the big games.” Liverpool had the better of a first half that was short on chances, seemingly more aggressive and determined than Arsenal.
Fernando Torres, set through by Steven Gerrard, uncharacteristically scuffed his finish, then Gerrard probably should have had a penalty when he tumbled over a clumsy challenge from William Gallas.
They took the lead four minutes before the break, Kuyt stabbing in his fifth of the season after goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, under pressure from Lucas, had flapped at Fabio Aurelio’s free-kick.
It meant Liverpool, for all their woes, had scored in a club record 19 successive Premier League home games.
But that meant little as Arsenal began the second half with more purpose, and levelled with a stroke of good fortune four minutes after the break.
Cesc Fabregas released Samir Nasri on the right, and when his low cross deflected off Jamie Carragher, Johnson couldn’t get out of the way and bundled the ball over his own line.
“The own goal changed everything,” said Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez. “The confidence changed and we started making mistakes.
“The first half was really, really good. The second half was totally different.
“We keep going, we know we have an important game on Wednesday, and we have some important players coming back.” It got worse for Liverpool on 57 minutes as Arshavin struck with a goal as brilliant as any of the four he scored in the 4-4 draw between the sides at Anfield last April.
The Russian gathered Fabregas’ cross, cut inside Johnson, and smashed a shot from the edge of the box in off the inside of the post.
Liverpool had a brief flurry after that, and another free-kick caused Almunia more difficulty, but Arsenal were never placed under any real pressure.
