Thierry Henry scored a ssublime opening goal and then pounced on a dreadful mistake by Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard to secure a vital win for Arsenal at Highbury.

The Frenchman put Arsenal in front in the 21st minute with a beautifully curled shot but his side appeared to have thrown away all three points when Luis Garcia equalised 15 minutes from time.

However the game swung Arsenal’s way in the 82nd minute when Xabi Alonso was sent off for a second bookable offence and two minutes later Henry intercepted Gerrard’s attempted backpass to round goalkeeper Jose Reina and hit the winner.

The strike allowed Arsene Wenger’s side to move to within two points of their north London neighbours Tottenham in the race to finish fourth in the Barclays Premiership.

In a game which mattered a great deal to both sides, it was Arsenal who began with more motivation.

Henry, clearly in the groove from the start, combined with Freddie Ljungberg to open up the Liverpool defence in the third minute. However, the Frenchman could only sidefoot his shot into the path of Reina.

In the eighth minute, Arsenal squandered a glorious opportunity to take the lead when a scintillating run down the right flank by Henry caused Liverpool’s defence all kinds of problems.

Fortunately for the Merseysiders, Henry’s low cross into the six-yard box was skied wide of the target by Emmanuel Adebayor.

In the 15th minute, Arsenal were forced to replace the injured Ljungberg with Robert Pires. Six minutes later the home side went ahead when Cesc Fabregas superbly fed Henry on the left flank and the Arsenal captain sped into the penalty area before curling his shot beyond Reina and into the far corner of the net.

Arsenal continued to dominate the opening half but Xabi Alonso went close for Liverpool with a 20-yard drive 10 minutes before the interval A minute later Luis Garcia tried an ambitious volley after Steve Finnan’s cross had found him unmarked at the far post.

However, the Liverpool midfielder could not direct his effort on to the target and Arsenal survived a rare scare.

Six minutes before half-time, Kolo Toure required lengthy treatment in the corner after a challenge by Stephen Warnock and the Arsenal defender limped off for further treatment so the game could re-start.

Liverpool were devoid of intelligent ideas and were often guilty of carelessly giving the ball away in the final third.

But Liverpool captain Gerrard had Jens Lehmann scrambling two minutes before the end of the half when his 20-yard drive threatened to curl beyond him at the far post.

Luckily for Arsenal the England international’s effort spun just wide of the target.

Liverpool made a change during the break with Jan Kromkamp replaced by Harry Kewell. It enabled Liverpool to move Gerrard on to the right of midfield while Kewell took up a position on the opposite flank.

In the 49th minute a superbly-worked move by Arsenal almost brought Henry a second goal. The Frenchman seemed certain to score when a pass from Pires put him in the clear inside the opposing penalty area with just Reina to outfox.

Once again Henry looked to curl the ball beyond the onrushing Liverpool keeper but this time Reina judged his angles perfectly and the Arsenal striker’s effort fell the wrong side of the upright.

Arsenal were intent on putting the game out of Liverpool’s reach as soon as possible but Henry wasted another chance when Alex Hleb fed the Frenchman with another slide-rule pass in the 53rd minute.

The Arsenal man sped into the penalty area but his right-foot shot was saved by Reina who dived low to his left to keep Liverpool in the game.

Arsenal were stunned in the 75th minute when Lehmann failed to hold Gerrard’s 30-yard drive and Luis Garcia headed home the rebound.

Manager Arsene Wenger complained bitterly Alonso had fouled Fabregas to slip the ball to Gerrard but referee Bennett allowed play to continue.

In the 82nd minute Liverpool’s Alonso was sent off for a second bookable offence and a calamitous backpass from Gerrard allowed Henry to score the winner.