Arsene Wenger paid tribute to the outstanding Andrei Arshavin after the Russia international s sensational four-goal haul at Anfield on Tuesday evening. The �15m striker - signed from Zenit St Petersburg in February - looked to have given the Gunners a

Arsene Wenger paid tribute to the 'outstanding' Andrei Arshavin after the Russia international's sensational four-goal haul at Anfield on Tuesday evening.

The �15m striker - signed from Zenit St Petersburg in February - looked to have given the Gunners all three points after a frenetic match, when he fired them into a 4-3 lead in the 90th minute.

But Yossi Benayoun snatched a draw for Liverpool three minutes into extra time as Rafa Benitez's side maintained their unbeaten home record this season.

Arshavin's performance brought back memories of Julio Baptista's four-goal display in Arsenal's 6-3 Carling Cup quarter-final win at Anfield in January 2007.

Wenger pushed aside his disappointment at losing out on the win to praise Arshavin's magnificent individual performance.

"He can play everywhere, like all the great players," said the Arsenal manager.

"His performance was outstanding. He had a quiet first half but when he comes into the game he is always very dangerous. He has personality and is a winner.

"He scored four goals but he was at the end of some good combination play.

"He has a lot of tricks and a short backlift and that makes him very dangerous."

He then praised his team, who face Middlesbrough at Emirates on Sunday lunchtime, for bouncing back from the FA Cup defeat to Chelsea to extend their unbeaten league run to 19 matches.

"The fact they came into the dressing room very, very disappointed says a lot about their character. It shows they wanted to win and that we go for it every time. It takes quality to respond like we did today, only three days after the cup defeat.

"It was a game at a frenetic pace of top quality technically, and you could see both teams created many chances.

"We are half-happy because we scored four goals and half-unhappy because we conceded four.

"Also, 4-3 up with minutes to go, the team is disappointed to draw - but I give credit to my players for a great performance."

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez added: "It is really disappointing - we made massive mistakes.

"You don't remember any save from Pepe Reina, it is just four chances (for Arsenal) and four goals and all of them have been our mistakes."

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