Wenger praises Arsenal's fighting spirit after win

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has praised the way the Gunners managed to hang on and defeat a determined Spurs side 0-1 at White Hart lane on Sunday to keep his team in the Premiership title race.

A solitary Tomas Rosicky Goal after just 72 seconds was enough to give Arsenal the win despite the home side dominating for the majority of the match.

Chelsea meanwhile continues to lead the Premiership despite a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa on Saturday, but Liverpool and Arsenal are now just three points back with a game still in hand over the Blues, while Manchester City are six points behind the leaders but with two games in hand.

Wenger will celebrate his 1,000^th game as Arsenal manager when the Gunners take on Chelsea next week telling Sky Sports

: “To go to Bayern, to come here, to beat Everton in the cup, it demands a lot of focus and a special spirit and that is what we have shown again today.

“It makes the next game very interesting. The win for Liverpool at Man Utd, and the fact that Man City won yesterday, it makes it very interesting.

“From time to time, it’s important to know you cannot always be super-dominant in a season. And to win games when you’re not is important.”

Wenger went on to admit that his team were not able to play their signature game, but pointed to the impressive defensive display that the team achieved by keeping a clean sheet against their long-time rivals.

He added: “We absorbed a lot of pressure from Tottenham today.

“We scored an early goal, so we were protecting our lead and we didn’t take advantage enough of our counter-attacks, especially in the first half.

“As long as you don’t score the second goal you are under pressure. Tottenham played well, they had a very good game, and defensively we needed to be special.

“If you look at the clear-cut chances, we had better chances. They had a lot of possession today, a lot of domination. I agree we didn’t have our usual possession, and that’s down to their effort and commitment.

“But, as well, you have to give credit to our defensive quality.”