Moyes hits back at Wenger

EVERTON manager David Moyes has hit back at Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger in a row over the conduct of Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas.

Wenger said it was wrong for Moyes to come out on what he “pretends to have heard in the tunnel” after the Everton boss claimed Fabregas made “disgusting” comments towards officials this week.

But Moyes said yesterday: “I have to defend the integrity of Everton and David Moyes as well. I think it has been said I didn’t see it or I didn’t hear it. Well I was there and I saw it and I heard it.

“Cesc questioned Everton’s integrity by suggesting we possibly had given money to the referee.

“In doing that he also questioned the integrity of the referees. If I had said that or any other player had said that I think that would have warranted a sending off.

“I think Arsene said there was an unwritten rule that you don’t say things which are in the tunnel. Well his player was the one who broke the unwritten rule. Because what he did was question Everton FC, that we may be paying officials.”

Wenger has defended his player and said that only he spoke to referee Lee Mason at half-time.

Moyes however has confirmed that he thought Fabregas was speaking to fourth official Kevin Wright.

He said: “Cesc never swore once. He was very calm, very calculated. It wasn’t a rant or a rave like I’ve heard a lot people saying. It was just straight to the point and I thought it was out of order and he deserved to be sent off.

“I thought if I said that to the fourth official — who he did direct it to — I would have been sent off and the FA would be involved and probably fining me £8,000 (€9,400) again.”

Mason made no mention of any half-time incidents in his report and the Football Association will not be investigating.

Moyes added: “We have no intention of getting the FA involved. If the FA ask for information I won’t give them it. That doesn’t get me three points back.”

Yesterday Wenger launched a staunch defence of Fabregas, but maintained the club “do not want to develop a paranoia” over the treatment of their captain as they focus on maintaining interest on four fronts.

“We have a good mentality — we are hungry for success and we want to do well,” he said. “We have a good togetherness — one of the advantages of our team is that when you look at our side, they have all been educated here, they started in the Premier League together so there is a natural bond.

“We have the spirit, but it is not there forever if you don’t care for it and that is one of the things which is in front of us.”

Meanwhile, Gunners striker Robin van Persie says he is “100% confident” Manchester United will drop points as the race for the Premier League title hots up — but warned that will count for nothing if Arsenal do not maintain their own form with victory at Newcastle today.

Alex Ferguson takes his men to bottom club Wolves for this evening’s late kick-off at Molineux — a venue where Chelsea have already come unstuck earlier in the season.

Next up is the small matter of the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, while United head to Stamford Bridge on March 1 and then Anfield five days later with a showdown against the Gunners at Emirates Stadium set for the end of April.

“We all know United’s schedule, we know Chelsea’s schedule, but the main thing is to just look at our own,” said van Persie. “We have got a tough opponent now at Newcastle away, and so we only need to look at that.”

The Dutch striker continued: “I am confident Manchester United will drop points, 100%, because they have big games coming up — they have their own derby, they have games against Chelsea, other big games, so we will see what is going to happen.

“We just have to stick to ourselves and I am confident we can fight until the end.”

Van Persie has slowly regained his match sharpness after his return from injury, hitting seven goals since the turn of the year.

“I was right to take things quite carefully when I first came back — you have to keep in mind that I was basically injured for an entire calendar year, except for the summer. I’d had two big ankle injuries in the space of 12 months and needed some time to get properly fit.”