Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits his team took fear of not winning big games into their clash with Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

The Gunners played with a 'handbrake on' during the first half according to Wenger but he was delighted that the players realised they had to win the match to get their title pursuit back on track.

A Glen Johnson own goal and an Andrey Arshavin winner did the damage after Dirk Kuyt opened the scoring in the first term and Wenger was relieved to get the three points they so badly needed.

"Liverpool played very well and we played with our handbrake on through fear. The fear of not winning big games, because we lost against Chelsea and Manchester United," Wenger said.

"We brought that fear into the game. Once we had nothing to lose in the second period we played without that fear and we controlled the game.

"We were lucky with our first goal, but the fear was in Liverpool's camp in the second half and we scored an outstanding goal.

"From then on Liverpool's pace dropped and we were not really under any threat for the final 45 minutes.

"For us, we are back into contention following the results from Saturday. We are in a good position with a game in hand and mentally it was a massive game for us.

"With what happened on Saturday (to our rivals) we knew we needed to win at Anfield. We did that, now it is down to consistency.

"The team who wins this title will be the one who is the most consistent, and nobody has done that yet."