of the night after 72 hauled Rafael Benitez 's side level two minutes later -- but it took Benayoun to salvage a draw for Liverpool in the third minute of time added on after that man Arshavin had hit number four after 90 minutes . It was the first time in his career that Arshavin had scored four in a match and he told Sky : `` I liked the game but of course it 's not good for the team ... almost basketball . '' Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said of his Russian star : `` 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 . '' Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez saw his team concede a quartet of sloppy goals but he could not fault their commitment to the cause . `` You never know , '' he said of the Reds ' dwindling hopes of overhauling United . `` Today we made too many mistakes , but it 's also very positive because the team showed character until the last minute . '' Benitez added :
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Arsenal 's Andrey Arshavin became the first player to score four goals in a league game at Liverpool for 64 years but it was not enough to stop the Reds returning to the top of the Premier League after another 4-4 draw . Russian Arshavin hit four goals for the first time in his career in a dramatic eight-goal Anfield thriller . A week after crashing out of the Champions League 7-5 on aggregate after sharing eight goals in their quarterfinal second leg at Chelsea , Liverpool took their fans on another rollercoaster ride . A draw was going to be enough to take the Merseysiders above Manchester United -- they have two games in hand -- but it needed 90 minutes of drama before they edged ahead on goal difference . Russian striker Arshavin opened the scoring after 36 minutes and struck again after 67 , 70 and 90 as Arsenal bounced back following their weekend FA Cup semifinal defeat . Fernando Torres , with a header after 49 minutes , and Yossi Benayoun -LRB- 56 -RRB- hit back after halftime before Arshavin sent Arsenal 3-2 ahead with 20 minutes left . Torres 's second