Premiership: Wenger predicts tight title finish

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger claimed the Barclaycard Premiership title race could go ‘‘to the last goal, the last point’’ after he saw his side maintain their unbeaten away league record to stay in the thick of the battle.

Wenger accepted the goal that clinched the 1-0 win at Everton was lucky.

‘‘We needed character out there, particularly after everyone else had already won over the weekend,’’ he added.

Arsenal had seen Liverpool, Newcastle and then Manchester United all produce crucial victories before they even set foot on the Goodison Park pitch.

He said: ‘‘We could not dare lose. Everybody else is continuing to perform well. It will be very, very tight right to the end and one point or one goal could win the title now.’’

Wenger added: ‘‘It was a difficult pitch and we had to dig deep out there because we were missing a lot of players and everybody out there, whoever they were, had to fight.

‘‘We dominated the second half but it was a lucky goal. The goal was a great pass from (Patrick) Vieira, but (Sylvain) Wiltord mis-kicked and it chipped the goalkeeper.

‘‘I don’t think he intended to do that, he meant to hit it harder to get it into the six yard box.’’

Wenger also discounted claims that Thierry Henry should have been dealt with more severely than a booking for a lunging tackle.

Wenger said: ‘‘I thought we were unlucky to have five bookings.

‘‘As for Thierry, I don’t think he had any intention of hurting anyone, he was just trying to block the clearance.

‘‘But I did fear what might happen because the crowd were putting a lot of pressure on the official.’’

Everton boss Walter Smith agreed.

He said: ‘‘The incident looked a lot worse than it really was. He didn’t actually connect with anyone.’’

But Smith was fuming afterwards with referee Jeff Winter, insisting his side should have had two penalties in the second half.

TV replays showed Igors Stepanovs was dragging Kevin Campbell down by his shirt in the first incident, and then the Latvian defender clearly held down Alan Stubbs as they went for a corner.

Smith said: ‘‘The two penalty claims were pretty clear cut. Stepanovs pulled Campbell and was all over the back of Stubbs.

‘‘The referee had a good view of both incidents and it’s a mystery to me that he didn’t give either.’’

The Everton boss added: ‘‘In the first half we played well, we had the best of it, but the second was scrappy and it was a disappointingly soft goal to give away.’’

But he was happy with the debuts of Lee Carsley and David Ginola.

He added: ‘‘I didn’t expect Ginola to last the match considering how long he’s been out, his brightest moments were in the first half.

‘‘But Carsley and also Tobias Linderoth, our other new lad, did particularly well in midfield.’’

Smith’s side are now just three points off the relegation zone.

He said: ‘‘There are plenty of positives to take from the game.

‘‘Nobody can surely doubt out commitment, but we must keep playing at that level and just hope we get the breaks that haven’t been coming our way.

‘‘We need to get a few more players fit as quickly as possible.

‘‘(Tomasz) Radzinski, (Steve) Watson and (Allesandro) Pistone are close to returning while Duncan Ferguson, who was out with a back injury, should be back for the Liverpool game in a fortnight.

‘‘He’s suspended for the cup tie next weekend.’’

Everton defender David Weir agreed with his boss about the penalty claims.

The Scot said: ‘‘I’ve seen the replay of the penalties, and they both seem good shouts.

‘‘Alan Stubbs certainly felt he was held down, but only the referee can give them and he didn’t.’’