‘We will fight until the end’ Wenger says

Manuel Pellegrini is convinced Manchester City have enjoyed a “good week” despite failing to take an opportunity to go top of the Premier League after a 1-1 draw with Arsenal.

Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger, right, shakes hands with Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini after their English Premier League soccer match against Manchester City at The Emirates Stadium in LShow more

Manuel Pellegrini is convinced Manchester City have enjoyed a “good week” despite failing to take an opportunity to go top of the Premier League.

Chelsea's surprise 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday gave City the chance to move above them, and Liverpool, with a win at Arsenal.

David Silva's first-half goal put them on course to do just that but they had to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw when Mathieu Flamini equalised for the hosts.

That left City still third and instead it is Liverpool who can overtake Chelsea if they win at home to Tottenham on Sunday.

But considering that only one team – Aston Villa on the opening day – has won at Arsenal in the Premier League, Pellegrini was not too disappointed to add only a point to a 5-0 home win over Fulham a week ago and Tuesday’s impressive 3-0 victory at fallen champions Manchester United.

“Four points from Manchester United and Arsenal when both games were away is a good week for us,” the Chilean said.

“Of course we could be more happy if we won today – and we had, especially in the first half, the chances to do it.

“We had a clear chance before they scored to score a second goal but we couldn’t. Arsenal had a better second half but no chances to score apart from the goal.

“In the first half we had at least four clear chances to finish, especially in the first 20 minutes. We had good crosses and good passes inside the box so maybe we could have finished the game before.”

City’s trip to Liverpool on Sunday April 13 is sure to have a massive bearing on the title race, although by then Pellegrini and Co will have two games in hand over all three of their title rivals.

Pellegrini is convinced Arsenal are still in that category that even though they have only added two points to their tally in the past seven days, which saw them thrashed 6-0 at Chelsea and held 2-2 at home to Swansea.

“Of course they are,” he said. “In football if mathematics allows you to win then you have the chance to do it. At this moment we will see what happens tomorrow with Liverpool, but Arsenal are four points behind the leaders and it’s not too much.”

Wenger was also adamant that his players were not too far behind.

“We will fight until the end,” he said. “This team has qualities, it has quality on the pitch and quality in attitude as well and it will do that until the end.

“What happened to Chelsea doesn’t help us because it does not give us more points here. It just shows that we have absolutely to fight until the end of the season because everybody can beat everybody.

“Chelsea lost at Crystal Palace, so that means all of us have to be careful and consistent.

“The team has been remarkably consistent, we have gone through a nightmare last week. Of course, you could see with the 2-2 against Swansea that the team was on the floor and hugely disappointed because we conceded an own goal in the last minute. Despite that, we responded very well today.”

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