LIVERPOOL: Andrey Arshavin breathed fresh life into Arsenal’s quest to win the English Premier League title and left Liverpool facing a battle to finish in the top four as the Gunners won 2-1 here on Sunday.

Arsenal fell behind to Dirk Kuyt’s goal shortly before half-time but levelled soon after the break through a Glen Johnson own-goal. Arshavin, who scored four goals in last season’s 4-4 draw at Anfield, then produced a sublime moment of skill to complete Arsenal’s fightback with a slickly-taken, forceful shot, just before the hour mark.

Victory saw Arsenal regain third place and move to within six points of leaders Chelsea and three of second-placed champions Manchester United, with a game in hand over the top two. By contrast, defeat left Liverpool five points adrift of the top four finish they will need to bring Champions League football back to Anfield next season.

Liverpool took the lead through Kuyt in the 41st minute. Almunia failed to

deal with Fabio Aurelio’s clipped free-kick into the

area, only palming the ball away, and Dutch international Kuyt rolled the ball into an empty net for his sixth goal of the season.

But five minutes into the second-half Samir Nasri’s deflected cross eventually rebounded off Johnson and into the Liverpool net. Torres looked for an immediate response but he was thwarted by Almunia after a powerful run into the box. And in the 58th minute, Arsenal moved in front thanks to another Anfield goal from Arshavin. Johnson hesitated and failed to deal with Fabregas’s lob into the area and Arshavin was first to react and hit a first-time shot that flew in off the post with Reina rooted to the spot. Liverpool never looked like finding an equaliser and slipped to a sixth league defeat of the season.

Spanish La Liga

MADRID: Sevilla moved back into third place in the Spanish league with a 1-0 win at Sporting Gijon, while Mallorca moved into the top five with a first ever victory at Osasuna.

Frederic Kanoute poked Jesus Navas’ cross into the roof of the net after nine minutes in a match where hail affected play. Sevilla had been in third place two weeks ago, before slipping to fourth. Mallorca earned their first away win of the season and their first ever triumph at the Reyno de Navarro Stadium with a 1-0 victory at Osasuna courtesy of a Chori Castro goal in the 61st.

Barcelona ended 2009 with a 1-0 win over Espanyol on Saturday to lead with 39 points. Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-2 on Saturday to sit second with 34 points, while Sevilla are next with 30 followed by Valencia on 28 and Mallorca with 27.

Joseba Llorente scored one minute into injury time as Villarreal beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon. In Sunday’s other games, it was: Almeria 1, Deportivo La Coruna 1; Getafe 2, Tenerife 1; Racing Santander 3, Xerez 2; and Valladolid 1, Malaga 1.