Wenger relieved as Gunners stop rot

Fulham 0 Arsenal 1

The Gunners, however, had to rely on a freak own goal from Steve Marlet and some generous refereeing from Jeff Winter who waved away appeals for Fulham penalties twice after Arsenal defender Sol Campbell had brought down Luis Boa Morte.

The victory saw Arsenal who had lost two European games and Premiership matches against Everton and Blackburn in October close the gap with Liverpool to four points at the head of the Premiership.

''We reacted well and showed great concentration,'' said Wenger. ''We were very resilient. We wanted three points and got them.

"We were strong and I'm delighted to win the match no matter what it took.

''I would have preferred to have won with a different goal but I'll take that one.

"If you lose four you have to be concerned. We're not used to it and it's how the team responds. The response was there.

''Confidence drops when you have lost four in a row and we felt luck had turned against us against Everton and Blackburn.

''We had to dig deeper and that's what we have done. This team will fight for the future.

"We created many chances. Fulham were more direct than we expected. They are a passing team and we took a while to get used to it. It was a very physical game for our centre-halves.''

Wenger admitted that former Arsenal striker Boa Morte gave his defence a torrid time all afternoon but said:

''On the first penalty shout the ball was lost. Boa Morte provokes you because of the way he plays.

"He keeps going down and you never know who is going to get a free-kick, him or you?

"If the referee thought it was a penalty he would have given it. We were under big pressure. We played with spirit and showed we are still hungry.''

The Arsenal boss insisted, however, that it was too early in the season to talk of anything decisive in the outcome of the Premiership.

"It's not over and it would not have been over even if we had lost,'' said Wenger.

''It wasn't decisive today but it would have been a real blow to lose again. Confidence is something that is very fragile.''

Fulham boss Jean Tigana refused to talk about the penalty decisions which undoubtedly would have influenced the outcome of the game.

"We were unlucky,'' said Tigana. ''We played very well and made a lot of chances. I never speak about the referee. I respect the referee because it's possible to make a mistake. That is part of the game. I don't like to criticise. You have to accept decisions.

"I thought David Seaman played very well. I would prefer Seaman to play bad against us than for the national team.''

Tigana, whose team were playing their 22nd match of a crowded season, admitted Fulham's small squad was a growing concern.

''If players get injured then we have a problem,'' said Tigana, whose side recorded a famous 3-0 away victory against Zagreb in the UEFA Cup in midweek.

He then added, jokingly: ''I prefer my wife to be injured rather than my players. She is worried if any more are injured I will have to come out of retirement.''

FULHAM: Van der Sar, Finnan, Ouaddou, Melville, Brevett, Legwinski, Malbranque (Hayles 54), Goma, Boa Morte, Marlet, Djetou (Inamoto 54).

ARSENAL: Seaman, Lauren (Luzhny 65), Campbell, Cygan, Cole, Wiltord (Toure 83), Silva, Edu, Ljungberg, Henry, Bergkamp (Kanu 72).

Referee: J Winter (Cleveland).