Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expressed the hope that his side’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City will represent a turning point after an extremely testing period for the club.
Criticism of Wenger from angry fans escalated during a run of four defeats in five English Premier League matches that saw the club slide out of the top four, but while uncertainty about his future continues to linger, he hopes Sunday’s battling performance against City will help the team move on.
“Overall, I felt it was a mental test and you could see the team was touched on the confidence front,” Wenger told his post-match news conference at the Emirates Stadium in London. “It will help us to rebuild confidence because the players felt that we showed some mental strength. That will help us come back to our natural fluency.”
Photo: Reuters
The result kept Arsenal seven points below City, who occupy the fourth and final UEFA Champions League qualifying berth, but they retain a game in hand.
Fans protested against Wenger once again before the game, but Wenger praised the supporters inside the stadium for throwing themselves behind the team.
“Despite all that happened, I felt our fans were fantastic,” said the Frenchman, whose side entertain West Ham United tomorrow. “In very difficult moments in the game — at 1-0 down, 2-1 down just before halftime — our fans could have turned against us. I think they were absolutely sensational and helped the team to get through that difficult moment.”
Arsenal appeared to be at City’s mercy in the first half and visiting manager Pep Guardiola explained his side’s failure to capitalize by saying his players “forgot to play.”
City trail leaders Chelsea by 11 points ahead of tomorrow’s showdown at Stamford Bridge.
Guardiola heralded Yaya Toure for bringing poise to City’s play after replacing Raheem Sterling in a halftime tactical switch.
“If you want to play, you need this quality of pass,” he said. “Yaya in there is a master. That is why he helped us a lot in the second half to do that.”
The Manchester City manager also hailed Jesus Navas after an injury to Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta’s lack of fitness saw the Spanish winger surprisingly selected at rightback.
“His performance was outstanding. He faced maybe one of the best players in the league by far, Alexis [Sanchez],” Guardiola said. “It’s not easy to be fullback, but how he defended him and how he played with the ball offensively... I am so, so happy to give him the chance to play because he did not play much in the last period, but he is one of the most fantastic guys I have ever met in my life.”
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