Wenger admits Arsenal out of title race

Joe Hart of Manchester City dives to make a save at the feet of Laurent Koscielny of Arsenal during the Barclays Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday in Manchester, England. (GETTY)

Published Monday, December 19, 2011

By Staff

Arsene Wenger conceded his Arsenal side are now out of the title race after the 1-0 defeat by Manchester City left them 12 points behind the leader in fifth place.

The Arsenal manager said that the game, decided by David Silva's goal on 52 minutes, was one that his team "had to win" if they were to stay in contention for their first Premier League title since 2004.

Wenger had hoped to use the game to close the gap at the top and look to overhaul the sides above Arsenal in the second half of the season.

He was angry that his side were denied a penalty in the 78th minute when the ball appeared to strike Micah Richards' hand in the penalty area. "Robin van Persie is absolutely adamant that it was a penalty," Wenger said.

For now, however, Wenger said that this defeat meant that his team could not win the title.

He said this after losing to Spurs in October making it the second time he has done before Christmas.

He was quoted as saying by his club's official website: "Unfortunately for us it was a game that we couldn't afford to lose because it puts us too much (behind City).

"I think it was a game that could have gone both ways. It was very intense with both teams going for it and I feel as well that we were a bit unlucky."

"If we had won the game we would have come back to six points and with players coming back like our full-backs and (Jack) Wilshere and (Abou) Diaby - we will have a better squad in the second half of the season.

"At the moment we are too far behind.

"I think it was a game that could have gone both ways. It was very intense with both teams going for it and I feel as well that we were a bit unlucky.

"Their goalkeeper had a good game and we were a bit unlucky with the fact that we had to reshuffle completely at the back in a position where we are already short - we paid too much for that.

"Overall I did feel at half-time that we would win the game if we stayed stable at the back.

"We lacked a bit of accuracy with our final ball in the final third as well because we had a few opportunities where we didn't pass the ball well.

"But overall we had a very positive performance, great spirit, quality, but we lacked a little bit of what is vital in the big games."

Although Silva scored the winning goal it was former Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri who was the game's most influential player, a reality that was painful for the Arsenal fans who came to barrack him.

In the opening exchanges Nasri was excellent, as he was for much of the game before his substitution in the closing stages.

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