At least we didn’t lose, says Wenger
BOLTON 0 vs ARSENAL 0
ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger rebuffed talk of a crisis and insisted he was pleased with a point and a clean sheet after slipping further behind in the race for a Champions League place.
Two Robin van Persie shots onto the woodwork were the closest the Gunners came to capitalising on their superiority and a victory that would have hoisted them to within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea.
Instead they dropped to seventh, although Wenger found a positive spin to a frustrating result that leaves them with just one point from their last four Premier League games.
“On the positive side we haven’t lost and we haven’t conceded a goal,” he said.
“We had even more difficult periods when we won championships and went six games without a win.
“It’s part of football when you lose three games like we did – when you do not lose the fourth game it is already not too bad.”
FA Cup triumphs over Aston Villa and Leeds have been rare bright spots on a wretched run for the north Londoners, which has seen them take just eight points from eight league fixtures. To compound the gloom, it was confirmed yesterday that England midfielder Jack Wilshere remains indefinitely sidelined after an injury setback.
When Van Persie’s early effort was cleared off the line and Theo Walcott (left) missed when clean through Bolton looked unlikely to keep a first league clean sheet since November.
But Van Persie hit the post and, with a superb chip, the bar, as the Gunners’ second-half salvo came to nothing.