Wenger plays cautious game

Arsenal put themselves in the driving seat for the Barclays Premier League title by defeating Blackburn last night but manager Arsene Wenger insists the race is far from over.

Goals from Philippe Senderos and Emmanuel Adebayor at the Emirates Stadium earned a 2-0 win and a five-point lead at the top, taking full advantage of Manchester United and Chelsea dropping points on Sunday.

Brad Friedel’s form in goal for Rovers kept the visitors in the match until Adebayor’s strike in stoppage-time and Wenger admitted his side were not at their best.

The Frenchman sees belief in his squad but is aware of the potential slip-ups in Arsenal’s 12 remaining league matches this season.

“We always had the belief from the first day but there’s still a long way to go,” he said. “As soon as you’re not at your best at the top, you can drop points.

“We have seen that over the weekend. We have still 12 games to go. We are in a good position. We believe we can do it.

“It’s far from being over. We’ll have to fight until the last minute of the championship. We still have a hard games ahead of us.”

Wenger was pleased with how his side have approached their title challenge recently, particularly with Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Alexandre Song away on African Nations Cup duty.

“I feel we handled the pressure very well each time this year when we’ve had our backs to the wall,” Wenger added.

“Last week we were the first to play, at Manchester City, and we won. This week were the last to play and we won. We’ve come up with the same answer each time.”

It was far from straightforward though, despite Senderos’ header from Eduardo da Silva’s corner establishing a fourth-minute lead.

Friedel saved with his legs from Mathieu Flamini before Rovers threatened themselves either side of half-time.

Alexander Hleb struck the post in the second period and Friedel then pulled off a string of saves, denying Adebayor and Hleb with his finest efforts.

“Brad’s been here on many occasions and had to work a lot harder than that, but he’s a great keeper,” said Rovers boss Mark Hughes.

“When he’s needed, he’ll keep us in games. That’s his job. That’s what he’s there for.”

Hughes lost Andre Ooijer to a hamstring injury with 10 minutes remaining, and the centre-back is expected to be out for around three weeks.

Arsenal then sensed a second goal and Adebayor delivered with seconds to go, the ninth consecutive match he has scored in.

“Adebayor’s an outstanding footballer,” Hughes added. “My back four dealt with him as well as I’ve seen anyone deal with him.

“Goals bring confidence and he’s scoring them left, right and centre. We’ve come up against him, equipped ourselves well, but he’s ended up on the scoresheet again.”

It was almost four years to the day that Thierry Henry scored his 19th league goal of the season with a late strike to help Arsenal to a 2-0 win and establish a five-point lead at the summit. The Invincibles went on to win the title.

Last night’s strike at the death was also Adebayor’s 19th league goal of the season.

Wenger added: “Five points in front, we’re not going to be believe we have no chance.

“We believe we have a chance to do it, but we’re conscious as well that we have to keep our humility, our team spirit and the way we want to play the game. We have to focus on that.”