A great strike from Russian forward Andrei Arshavin on 58 minutes sealed victory for the London club, who leapfrogged Aston Villa into third place on 31 points, six behind leaders Chelsea and three adrift of Manchester United with a game in hand.
United wasted a glorious chance to catch Chelsea at the top of the Premier League when they lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa on Saturday. Gabriel Agbonlahor's first-half header gave Villa their first league win at Old Trafford since 1983 and provided a huge boost to Chelsea who had earlier been held 3-3 at home by Everton despite two goals from Didier Drogba. Liverpool, who also failed to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages, stayed seventh on 24 points having lost six games out of 16, four more league defeats than they suffered last season.
Arsenal struggled in the first half and fell behind to a Dirk Kuyt goal on 41 minutes.
England defender Glen Johnson levelled the scores with an own goal on 50 minutes, turning a low Samir Nasri cross into his own net.
Arsenal aggrieved
Arsenal are seeking compensation from the Dutch Football Federation for the injury sustained by striker Robin van Persie last month, manager Arsene Wenger said. Van Persie suffered ankle ligament damage during the Netherlands' friendly against Italy on November 14 and is expected to be out until April.
"We are working on this with our lawyers and we are definitely going for it," Wenger was quoted as saying on the BBC on Sunday. "I expect compensation for the damage it can make to the championship."
Wenger believes the Dutch authorities initially misdiagnosed Van Persie's injury and that he wasted crucial time travelling to Serbia to see a doctor who has treated several players using fluids derived from horse placenta. “The Dutch FA said it was a small problem and Robin called me to see if he could go and see this Serbian wonder doctor and it was okay," Wenger said.
The Dutch Federation issued a statement denying any wrongdoing over the diagnosis of Van Persie's injury.
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