Steven Gerrard hailed the bravery of Israel captain Yossi Benayoun after his double kept Liverpool in the Premier League title race in Tuesday night’s 4-4 draw against Arsenal.
A thrilling contest saw Arsenal take a first-half lead before two goals in 11 minutes at the start of the second half from Fernando Torres and Benayoun, a diving header, put Liverpool ahead.
Andrei Arshavin scored twice in quick succession to put Arsenal 3-2 up before Torres levelled again. Arshavin looked to have sealed the points before Benayoun tapped home deep into stoppage time.
The England star described Benayoun as being “as brave as a tiger” and said: “He is a great little finisher. He was frightening going forward and was my man of the match.”
Benayoun said that Liverpool will keep battling until the end of the season. “It is very difficult,” he commented. “United are a strong side but we won't give up and we will continue to try and do our best.
"We will keep trying, look to win our remaining matches, and hopefully we can still do it.
"It was great game for the supporters to watch but not for us because we made too many mistakes. We should have won the game.
"In the first-half we created four or five really good chances but then they scored with their only shot of the half.
"We came back strong in the second-half and led 2-1. At that point we were controlling the game but we made more mistakes and then when we had to chase it they punished us.
"We have the best defence in the league and the best goalkeeper too, but I think we didn't defend well as a team against Arsenal. We scored four goals and still didn't manage to pick up the three points so I think that shows we should have done better."