Martin Skrtel was hoping for more than late Liverpool equaliser

Martin Skrtel was disappointed at Liverpool's failure to beat Arsenal, despite his goal deep into stoppage time salvaging a 2-2 draw for the Reds.

The Slovakia international powered home a header from Adam Lallana’s ball into the box to rescue a point for 10-man Liverpool, who had dominated the game for long periods.

Brendan Rodgers’s side shifted to three at the back and that caused Arsenal problems throughout, with the hosts dominating possession, but they were unable to make it count.

“Obviously we wanted to get the three points today but being down one goal and to equalise in the last minute is good, but we are disappointed we couldn’t win,” said Skrtel.

Philippe Coutinho gave the Reds a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time with a delightful finish, but it lasted little over a minute as Mathieu Debuchy won an aerial duel with Skrtel to make it 1-1 at the break.

Skrtel was culpable again as Olivier Giroud peeled off him at the near post to put Arsenal into a 2-1 lead against the run of play just after the hour mark.

When substitute Fabio Borini saw red for two rash moments it looked like it was slipping away from Liverpool, but Skrtel made the most of the nine minutes of stoppage time – which were a direct result of a head injury he suffered – to atone for his mistakes and earn the Reds a point.

“It was a great cross from Adam and I had a header before, but I’ve been waiting quite a while for a goal so I’m really happy,” he added.

Lallana, who looked bright for the hosts, echoed Skrtel’s sentiments and now wants them to kick on over the festive period.

“I thought we were the dominant team throughout the whole game and we created enough to get the victory but that’s the way it’s been going for us lately,” he said.

“We can take a little bit of momentum out of that goal into the Christmas period but we’ve got games coming up that are winnable and we need to start turning these good performances into wins.”