Van Persie: Both goals in Arsenal win
WENGER: ARSENAL MUST KEEP RVP
Arsene Wenger says Arsenal have to everything in their power to keep captain Robin van Persie at the club.
The Holland striker scored twice, the second in added time, to snatch a 2-1 win at Anfield in a game in which they had been outplayed by Liverpool for long periods.
Van Persie, who will not open negotiations on an extension to the contract which expires in 2013 until this summer, showed just how valuable he is to the Gunners by taking his tally to 25 goals in as many league matches.
"We will do anything possible to keep him," said Wenger.
"I cannot say much more because I have said that many times.
"I am very proud that he has grown, having seen the boy arrive here timid and today being the player he is and the leader of the team he has become.
"He is playing under big pressure in every game because he knows he has to score - that is excellent development not only as a player but as a human being.
"He is up there among the best players in the world."
In truth Arsenal could have been out of the game by half-time had goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny not made a great double save to deny Dirk Kuyt from the penalty spot and also turn a low Luis Suarez shot behind.
Suarez and Kuyt also hit the post in the opening 45 minutes and Wenger admitted they were fortunate to go into the interval at 1-1 after Van Persie's header had cancelled out Laurent Koscielny's own goal.
"It was vital for us to win the game," added Wenger, whose side strengthened their grip on fourth place.
"I must say it is hard for Liverpool to lose the game, they had a very good first half and we were not in the game.
"I felt Liverpool played with a pace above us in the first half and our fluency was not there at all and we gave them too much room.
"But as long as you are not killed off in this Premier League you always have a chance because every team has quality strikers to score a goal.
"We hung on and played as well as we could and our goalkeeper and our centre-forward made the difference today.
"What was flattering for us was to be 1-1 at half-time and in the second half I thought it was much more level.
"They had to win the game and but we know we have Van Persie who can give you something special and overall it was not one of our best games but we refused to give in."
Wenger praised Szczesny for his role in the victory.
"It is good he had a performance like that because he had a little bit of a difficult period in January but he has shown his potential and I like he was brave as well - he had a lot of kicking and coming out to do - and he didn't make a mistake." he said.
"He is 21 years old and is a great talent. He is just learning his job but because he is a great talent he learns quickly."
It was not all positive for the Gunners with Mikel Arteta taken to hospital with a neck problem after colliding with Jordan Henderson while Abou Diaby, Yossi Benayoun and Kieran Gibbs all picked up injuries.
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish tried to remain upbeat about the performance despite seeing a sixth penalty of the season squandered and the woodwork hit for the 21st time.
"If you want to gauge it on points then it is a big disappointment but if you want to gauge it on performance I think they were fantastic," said the Scot.
"I think we are competitive all right. I think those stats tell you we are attack-minded and can create chances and get penalties - the next bit is to be ugly and get a winning goal.
"There was always some scepticism to us winning a trophy (Carling Cup) the week before and how they would react and respond and I think they showed that with the way they played.
"To come away without three points is disappointing. The performance was outstanding - if we get a bit of luck it will make a difference to us."
Neither Steven Gerrard nor Glen Johnson featured because or minor injuries but Dalglish did not expect them to be sidelined for too long.
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