Arsenal 3 Liverpool 0

Arsenal moved up to third in the Barclays Premiership and put another big dent in Liverpool's title hopes with a 3-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium.  The Gunners had endured a difficult spell of late, following the frustrations of being unable to kill off teams which had cost them points both at home and in Europe.

However, there were no such problems this time, as goals from Mathieu Flamini, Kolo Toure and William Gallas secured a sixth Barclays Premiership win to keep alive their hopes of eventually overhauling the leaders - on whom the Gunners have a match in hand.

Liverpool and Arsenal are scheduled to meet in the quarter-finals of Carling Cup next month - but on this occasion it was all about making up ground on Barclays Premiership pace-setters Manchester United and Chelsea.  Following what was an impeccably observed minute’s silence on Remembrance Sunday, there was an electric start to the match when Robin van Persie was shown a yellow card inside the opening two minutes by referee Mark Clattenburg.

The Dutchman looked to latch onto a quick pass upfield on the edge of the area - but clearly handled the ball past advancing Reds goalkeeper Jose Reina, before slotting into an empty net and then pleading his innocence.  At the other end, Dirk Kuyt tried to loop the ball back over Manuel Almunia - in for Jens Lehmann, who had a throat infection - after getting the better of Gallas, but his effort dropped over the crossbar.

In the 13th minute, Reina got down quickly to stop Alexander Hleb’s low drive, the midfielder having cut in from the right. The visitors then had an effort disallowed for offside when Peter Crouch touched in Xabi Alonso’s low centre - despite the ball seeming to have been cut back behind the giant Liverpool striker. In stark contrast to most matches at the Emirates Stadium this season, visitors Liverpool looked to take the game to their hosts, and Kuyt shot from distance - but it was straight at Almunia.

After 23 minutes, a flowing run and cross by Thierry Henry down the left saw John Arne Riise make a desperate clearance at the far post, with Hleb waiting for a tap-in. It was end-to-end action as, after 28 minutes, a Liverpool free-kick from the left was worked cleverly across goal, with Bolo Zenden firing just over on the turn from 12 yards. Despite the high tempo of the match, neither side were able to gain a dominant spell of possession as the interval approached.

Arsenal then took the lead in the 41st minute. Hleb ducked inside from the right and to the edge of the penalty area, before slipping in Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard cut the ball back across the six-yard box where Flamini got ahead of Jamie Carragher to stab his side in front. It was only the third Arsenal goal for the French midfielder, who replaced injured Tomas Rosicky in the starting XI, and his over-jubilant celebrations with the home fans earned him a caution.

Liverpool had started the second half brightly - but were 2-0 down in the 56th minute following a fine move. Fabregas and Henry exchanged a one-two just inside the Liverpool half. The ball was then fed to Van Persie, who eventually got it under control and delayed his pass perfectly through to the onrushing Toure, splitting the two Liverpool centre-backs. The Ivory Coast defender kept his nerve to produce a cool finish, slotting past Reina from just inside the area.

The visitors were clearly stunned by conceding when they had been so dominant. Zenden headed over following a free-kick from the right. On the hour mark, Carragher, booked early on, was perhaps fortunate not to have been sent off for what looked a second cautionable offence when he clattered into Van Persie, with referee Mark Clattenburg deeming a stern talking-to enough of a reprimand. Steven Gerrard’s fierce strike was then deflected over as Liverpool looked to get themselves back into the match in the final 20 minutes.

Crouch was replaced by Craig Bellamy, before Clattenburg needed treatment after the ball had bounced up into his groin. Arsenal wrapped up the points with 10 minutes left when Gallas was left unmarked in the six-yard box to head from a corner. Bellamy’s header was ruled out for offside, which just about summed up the afternoon for the visitors. However, Gunners substitute Emmanuel Adebayor should have made it four with two minutes left, but Reina stood up well.