THE happiest man at the Emirates last night was not even playing.
England boss Roy Hodgson must have left with a real spring in his step after stirring performances from men who could be crucial to his World Cup qualifying hopes.
Jack Wilshere is getting right back to his best in central midfield and had an epic battle with England skipper Steven Gerrard, who was excellent for the visitors.
Arsenal forward Theo Walcott then produced some special moments and bagged the Gunners' equaliser.
Daniel Sturridge, meanwhile, worked well up front for Liverpool and even the much-maligned Jordan Henderson got in on the act with a goal from midfield.
While Arsenal produced a magnificent comeback to rescue a point, there were huge question marks over the way they went 2-0 behind.
Goals by Luis Suarez on five minutes and Henderson on the hour had the home fans close to revolt.
But their team responded with two of their own in the space of three minutes through French striker Olivier Giroud and Walcott.
Arsene Wenger's men could even have won it at the end but Giroud could not convert Lukas Podolski's cross from close range.
Liverpool were kicking themselves for blowing their advantage having been on course to bury the painful memories of their shock FA Cup defeat at Oldham last Sunday.
Rodgers slaughtered his youngsters for that defeat and Fabio Borini, Joe Allen and Raheem Sterling were dropped to the bench.
Meanwhile, veteran centre-back Jamie Carragher, 35, made a rare start and fully justified his recall.
The Reds had been trying to beat a team above them in the table for the first time this season but, like the rest of us, they could not be sure what would face them.
Arsenal had thumped seven past Newcastle and five against West Ham recently yet lost at home to Manchester City and were beaten at Chelsea.
They are in a dogfight to qualify for the Champions League for a 16th successive season and are being let down by a basic inability to defend.
The manner in which they conceded the opener summed up their season — it was comic capers all the way.
First, Bacary Sagna slipped, allowing Glen Johnson to get away and put in a cross that Thomas Vermaelen had a swish at and missed.
The ball fell to Sturridge, whose shot was saved by Wojciech Szczesny but Aaron Ramsey's clearance was poor and only reached Suarez.
The Uruguayan shot at goal and got a deflection off German Per Mertesacker for his 17th goal of the season.
The Gunners tried to repair the damage as Walcott got through on to Wilshere's pass but his shot was superbly saved by Pepe Reina.
A great ball by Suarez with the outside of his right boot to Sturridge almost set up goal No 2 for Liverpool but the shot was wide.
Then Szczesny got in a right mess when he was slow to clear Mertesacker's backpass and nearly fell over trying a Cruyff turn around Sturridge before hacking it away.
Walcott's curler was pushed round the post by Reina before Gerrard's corner was met by Daniel Agger's header — but Podolski was on the line to save the day.
The Gunners supporters were going absolutely nuts at their defenders.
Mertesacker was all over the place and goodness knows what has happened to Vermaelen.
Also Sagna is nothing like the fullback he used to be and Andre Santos, who replaced the injured Kieran Gibbs early on, is becoming a joke figure.
Again, Arsenal were opened up when Stewart Downing picked out the onrushing Henderson.
Szczesny came out and was never going to get there but Henderson's lofted effort towards an empty goal landed on top of the net.
Arsenal were much better after the break and Walcott came steaming in on the right to meet a header from Podolski's cross, only to put it over the top.
But those defensive calamities returned to haunt them again when Sturridge forced a pass through to Henderson, who made easy work of beating Mertesacker and shrugging off Santos' limp challenge.
Ramsey then came in with a tackle and the ball bounced off Santos and back into the path of the grateful Henderson, who rolled it home.
Arsenal, though, were back in it four minutes later as Wilshere's free-kick was right on the money and Giroud headed past Reina.
Unbelievably, they were level on 67 minutes with a belter from Walcott.
The England man made his way into the box to collect the ball after clever play by Sagna, a lovely pass from Santi Cazorla and a deft touch on by Giroud.
Walcott sized up his angles and his shot across Reina nestled delightfully in the far corner.
Another screamer from Walcott, who was on fire, flew inches past the post, before Reina saved from Giroud.
The big striker then failed to force in another opening in front of goal.
A draw was probably fair but, for both sides, there was good and bad to ponder on.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS AVAILABLE LATER.
DREAM TEAM
SUN STAR MAN — OLIVIER GIROUD (ARSENAL)
ARSENAL: Szczesny 5, Sagna 6, Mertesacker 5, Vermaelen 5, Gibbs 5, Ramsey 6, Wilshere 7, Cazorla 7, Walcott 8, Podolski 7, Giroud 8. Subs: Santos (Gibbs 39) 5. Not used: Mannone, Diaby, Koscielny, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jenkinson. Booked: Cazorla, Giroud, Mertesacker.
LIVERPOOL: Reina 8, Johnson 6, Agger 6, Carragher 6, Wisdom 6, Lucas 5, Gerrard 8, Henderson 5, Downing 6, Suarez 6, Sturridge 6. Subs: Enrique (Sturridge 71) 5. Not used: Jones, Allen, Borini, Sterling, Shelvey, Skrtel. Booked: Gerrard.
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