LONDON (AP)

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was arrested early yesterday in connection with an alleged assault at a bar that left a disk jockey hospitalised with facial injuries.

The England midfielder was celebrating after Liverpool extended their lead atop the Premier League to three points with an emphatic 5-1 victory at Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.

Police arrested the 28-year-old Gerrard at 2:30 a.m. in Southport along with five other men after the brawl and they remained in police custody, a police official said on condition of anonymity. British police do not publicly name suspects unless charges are brought.

Officers only began interviewing the suspects yesterday afternoon and expected the questioning to continue until late in the evening. Gerrard's wife Alex Curran was seen near the police station but drove off without answering reporters' questions.

In the altercation outside the Lounge Inn, its 34-year-old DJ sustained cuts to his forehead and a broken tooth but he was later released from hospital, the official said.

Spots of blood and shards of broken glass were visible on the floor of the venue, which was closed yesterday.

The modern restaurant, which becomes a nightclub later in the evening, in the seaside town of Southport, is less than 10 miles from Gerrard's home in Formby in Merseyside.