Wenger hails 'massive' win

Boss delighted after title-chasing Gunners beat Black Cats

By Steve Pass   Last updated: 20th February 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Wenger hails 'massive' win

Wenger: Hailed side

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger hailed a 'massive three points' after his side overcame Sunderland 2-0 in a hard-fought encounter at the Emirates.

The Gunners dominated throughout and went ahead via Nicklas Bendtner in the 27th minute before finally killing off the game when Cesc Fabregas scored an injury-time penalty.

But the Black Cats had chances of their own, with Kenwyne Jones shooting wide when clean through in the first period, while Manuel Almunia had to save from Darren Bent after the restart.

The win means the Gunners remain six points behind leaders Chelsea, who won at Wolves, but they are now just two adrift of second-placed Manchester United after the Red Devils lost at Everton.

Asked if the game had been a little more nervous than he would have ideally wanted, Wenger told Sky Sports News: "Yes because Sunderland played well.

Threat

"They were always a threat going forward and they did fight like mad and they showed quality.

"We were of course dominating the game but on the counter-attacks, they were dangerous as well."

Wenger believed his side had dropped their level of play in the second period after their exertions in the 2-1 defeat at Porto in the Champions League in midweek.

He added: "We gave a lot on Wednesday night, it was a very physical battle and we could see that in the second half, our level dropped.

"But we maintained the win. We knew it was a massive three points for us today, and finally we got them."

Interesting

As regards the title race, he added: "We race with two teams but we want to get closer - we got closer today on one, it will be interesting until the end."

Wenger believes the title race is more open this year because the other teams in the top flight have got better.

"I think the teams are well prepared, well organised, some of them are stable now in the Premier League so they improve on year to year," he said.

"Every game becomes more and more difficult."