Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted his team's
title hopes are now over following Sunday's 2-1 defeat by
Manchester United at Old Trafford. Emmanuel Adebayor opened the
scoring just after half-time with what looked like his arm but
Cristiano Ronaldo equalised from the spot after William Gallas
handled and Owen Hargreaves grabbed the winner with a precision
free-kick 18 minutes from time.
The result put United six points ahead of Chelsea, who play
Wigan on Monday, with Arsenal now a further three points back. "Yes
we are out," Wenger said afterwards. "We played with quality and
spirit, and I'm very proud of our performance. What can you do?
"We had plenty of chances and we were really unlucky not to
win." Wenger was at a loss to explain the turnaround in the
Gunners' season, having been five points clear at the beginning of
February, but feels luck has not been on their side. "The last two
months, we have been not very lucky - and you could see that
again," he said. "It's difficult to find an obvious reason when you
see that performance today."
There have been suggestions the lack of depth and experience in
Arsenal's squad has contributed to their downfall, but Wenger
believes the players he has can win silverware. "I believe this
team is good enough," he added. "We had a dip since March and we
need to look at why, but the biggest target is to keep the team
together."