Post by Salem6 on Nov 9, 2003 9:42:22 GMT
Arsene Wenger admitted Arsenal benefited from a "lucky" winner to defeat Tottenham but insisted they had deserved their stroke of good fortune.
Arsenal, who had a worrying injury scare when Thierry Henry was caught in the throat by an arm only to recover after lengthy treatment, moved four points clear at the top of the table with their 2-1 success.
However, they had to come from behind after Darren Anderton's early opener, with Henry escaping the offside trap to force keeper Kasey Keller to parry the ball, enabling Robert Pires to equalise.
Their 78th-minute winner was even more fortuitous as Fredrik Ljungberg's 20-yard shot took a wicked deflection off Stephen Carr's outstretched leg and looped over Keller.
Wenger admitted: "We had a bit of luck with the second goal, it was a lucky deflection, but it was the consequence of our determination.
"Tottenham can feel hard done-by but my team was able to turn around a situation that was really bad for us at one stage and they deserve a lot of respect."
Wenger's side had also secured a last-gasp victory against Dynamo Kiev in their midweek Champions League tie.
"Overall, our legs were not really there as some players were tired from Wednesday night," he said.
"We had to dig in deep and kept going but that is the special strength of this team. They have mental strength and resolution.
"I was very concerned after an hour though. We had possession in the first-half but they had the chances. The positive thing is that we were only 1-0 down at half-time as they had two one-on-ones with Jens Lehmann, who did well."
Wenger was also worried not only when Henry went down clutching his throat, but also when he went head over heels after colliding with Keller shortly afterwards.
"Thierry got caught on the throat and I was very scared by that. But I was even more worried when he collided with Kasey Keller and somersaulted on to the ground," admitted the Arsenal boss.
Story filed: 18:49 Saturday 8th November 2003
Arsenal, who had a worrying injury scare when Thierry Henry was caught in the throat by an arm only to recover after lengthy treatment, moved four points clear at the top of the table with their 2-1 success.
However, they had to come from behind after Darren Anderton's early opener, with Henry escaping the offside trap to force keeper Kasey Keller to parry the ball, enabling Robert Pires to equalise.
Their 78th-minute winner was even more fortuitous as Fredrik Ljungberg's 20-yard shot took a wicked deflection off Stephen Carr's outstretched leg and looped over Keller.
Wenger admitted: "We had a bit of luck with the second goal, it was a lucky deflection, but it was the consequence of our determination.
"Tottenham can feel hard done-by but my team was able to turn around a situation that was really bad for us at one stage and they deserve a lot of respect."
Wenger's side had also secured a last-gasp victory against Dynamo Kiev in their midweek Champions League tie.
"Overall, our legs were not really there as some players were tired from Wednesday night," he said.
"We had to dig in deep and kept going but that is the special strength of this team. They have mental strength and resolution.
"I was very concerned after an hour though. We had possession in the first-half but they had the chances. The positive thing is that we were only 1-0 down at half-time as they had two one-on-ones with Jens Lehmann, who did well."
Wenger was also worried not only when Henry went down clutching his throat, but also when he went head over heels after colliding with Keller shortly afterwards.
"Thierry got caught on the throat and I was very scared by that. But I was even more worried when he collided with Kasey Keller and somersaulted on to the ground," admitted the Arsenal boss.
Story filed: 18:49 Saturday 8th November 2003
