Arsène Wenger conceded last night that Arsenal’s title challenge had been all but wiped out by a damaging defeat against Tottenham Hotspur and a “goal in a million” from Danny Rose on his Barclays Premier League debut.
A superb tenth-minute volley from Rose, 19, put Tottenham on course for a 2-1 win at White Hart Lane that left Arsenal six points adrift of Chelsea and two behind Manchester United with only four matches remaining.
Wenger believes that Arsenal have left themselves with too much to do, even if he pointedly suggested that Chelsea, unconvincing 1-0 winners over Bolton Wanderers the night before, had needed good fortune to seize control of the championship race.
“There is too much to do to win the title,” the Arsenal manager said. “It’s very, very unlikely now, but we will continue to fight until it is mathematically impossible. You never know, but even a point would not have been good enough tonight.
“We lost a game we couldn’t afford to lose in the title race and that shows we are not mature enough. If you want to win the title, this is the kind of game you can’t lose.
“I believe Chelsea and Manchester United can drop points. Chelsea come here on Saturday and if Tottenham want to fight for fourth place, you never know. If you look at the Chelsea game on Tuesday, I don’t think they were exceptional, but they had the luck that you can see as well.”
Tottenham’s win, with Gareth Bale scoring the second goal and Heurelho Gomes making a series of superb saves before Nicklas Bendtner pulled a goal back with five minutes to go, was their first in 21 attempts against their neighbours in the league since November 1999, when George Graham was in charge at White Hart Lane.
It also puts them back into serious contention for Champions League qualification, just one point behind Manchester City, who are fourth.
Wenger admitted that Rose’s spectacular 29-yard shot had set the tone for a difficult evening. “It was a goal in a million and it gave Tottenham confidence,” the Arsenal manager said.
Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, said: “It was an amazing goal, a great volley. I gave him his big chance and he responded well tonight, but he tweaked his ligament just before half-time and had to come off.
“He’s got a great left foot and that was a wonder of a strike from him. He’ll never forget that, that’s for sure.”
Redknapp remained guarded about Tottenham’s chances of beating City and Liverpool to fourth place — an ambition that was aided by Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw with Everton, which all but takes the Midlands club out of contention.
“We’re still in there,” Redknapp said. “It’s going to be hard but we’ve won six out of our last seven league games so we’re in good form. We’ve got another very difficult game against Chelsea, but we beat them here last year so we can do it again.”
Wenger was delighted by the form shown in the closing stages by Robin van Persie on the striker’s return to action after five months out with ankle ligament damage, but he also lost Thomas Vermaelen, the central defender, early in the game because of a calf strain that is likely to rule him out of at least two of Arsenal’s remaining matches.
Sol Campbell, the former Tottenham captain, was subjected to verbal abuse throughout by the home crowd, while Wenger was also the target of vile chants, audible on television, as he stood on the touchline.
Source
timesonline.co.uk
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