Wenger hails magnifique Pires as Gunners on a roll

THE smile of satisfaction must have lasted all the way home for an Arsenal side whose unbeaten start to the Premiership season has been overshadowed by disciplinary controversy.

They had Robert Pires to thank for victory against Liverpool, who were hell bent on proving their worth as title challengers.

Pires scored a sensational curling winner to break Liverpool and leave boss Arsene Wenger purring: "Pires is back to the form that won him the football of the year title," he said.

For Anfield chief Gerard Houllier there was the knowledge that his side had battered the Gunners for much of the first half and could have been out of sight before a Sami Hyypia deflection cancelled out Harry Kewell's opener.

Liverpool ended with praise for their earlier efforts, but with more injury worries. Michael Owen's X-ray and scan have done nothing for Houllier's peace of mind, nor has the Achilles damage for revitalised Vladimir Smicer.

Wenger's side has produced much in recent weeks that has done their image no good at all from Pires being accused of diving to the scenes at Old Trafford and another turgid display in Europe.

But they still top the table and Wenger was keen to focus on the positives, with Pires coming in for special praise.

He said: "I left Pires out recently because he was not well, but he has responded well since and he was outstanding at Anfield.

"The winner was magnifique. He is skilful and he has shown character. He is very much back to the level he was when he was named player of the year.

"We are very satisfied with the current situation.

"Our last two away games have been at Manchester United and Liverpool and we have taken four points. We have also beaten Newcastle in this period, it is showing what quality we have." Houllier, having changed the side's style, must be unsure of which way to turn now.

He said: "When you have chances against Arsenal you have to take them.

"We had a blip of 20 minutes in the second half and we had our problems then. But Jerzy Dudek hardly had a shot to save.

"We have so many injuries now. Owen, Smicer, Murphy, Hamann, Baros, Carragher, Cheyrou, it is becoming tough. I do not want to project this as an excuse, but they are all senior players," said Houllier.