Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted his team's title hopes are now over following Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford. Emmanuel Adebayor opened the scoring just after half-time with what looked like his arm but Cristiano Ronaldo equalised from the spot after William Gallas handled and Owen Hargreaves grabbed the winner with a precision free-kick 18 minutes from time.
The result put United six points ahead of Chelsea, who play Wigan on Monday, with Arsenal now a further three points back. "Yes we are out," Wenger said afterwards. "We played with quality and spirit, and I'm very proud of our performance. What can you do?
"We had plenty of chances and we were really unlucky not to win." Wenger was at a loss to explain the turnaround in the Gunners' season, having been five points clear at the beginning of February, but feels luck has not been on their side. "The last two months, we have been not very lucky - and you could see that again," he said. "It's difficult to find an obvious reason when you see that performance today."
There have been suggestions the lack of depth and experience in Arsenal's squad has contributed to their downfall, but Wenger believes the players he has can win silverware. "I believe this team is good enough," he added. "We had a dip since March and we need to look at why, but the biggest target is to keep the team together."