Wenger: 'Now we want to focus on reducing the gap'

"The two strikers did well. Bendtner is improving from month to month, and Arshavin from game to game as well. He has been unlucky in his finishing. But you can see that the class is there.

"It's different when you play for Arsenal Football Club. You are being compared to the players who played five, six or ten years ago.

"But you have to accept that a guy of 19 or 20 years old will be better every three, six months. He has shown tonight he has the talent to be an Arsenal player. That is the right way to mature. I liked his presence. I liked his determined attitude and the way he took people on. That shows he has improved."

"It's a strange situation. We created as many chances tonight as we have done in previous games. We are on a long unbeaten run since the beginning of November - and I still believe that in the few draws we had, if we'd taken those chances, we would still be in the title race.

"But now we want to focus on reducing the gap to Aston Villa and other teams and try to win our games."