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Sunday, 16 December 2007, 19:20 GMT

Big four still in race - Wenger

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger thinks the 'big four' are still in the Premier League title race, despite his team being 10 points clear of Liverpool.

The Gunners beat Chelsea to move six points ahead of the Blues and one ahead of Manchester United, who won 1-0 at Anfield in Sunday's early game.

"There is nothing decisive," said Wenger, whose team beat Chelsea for the first time since February 2004.

"But at the moment the most consistent are Manchester United and Arsenal."

Wenger watched his team win 1-0 after a goal in first-half injury-time from William Gallas.

And of the race for the Premier League, he added: "Liverpool have lost many points at home, they need to come back but are still in contention.

"Chelsea showed they can still fight for the championship "

"We deserved at least a point from the game"
Chelsea boss Avram Grant

Chelsea boss Avram Grant saw his team lose for the first time in 17 matches and argued that the Blues can still win the title.

"Six points - we can do it," insisted Grant. "But we need to continue to develop our game and take points."

Grant felt that his team were unlucky to lose after wasting several second-half chances.

"We deserved at least a point," he added.

"In the first half we defended very well and we were better in the second half and you can see that goalkeeper Manuel Almunia had his best game for Arsenal."

Arsenal boss Wenger applauded the mental strength of his players as they bounced back from their defeat at Middlesbrough on 9 December.

"We lost our first game of the season last weekend and this was a mental test," commented Wenger.

606: DEBATE
"Chelsea are too far behind now and can't get a first team out on a regular basis"
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"The defence was outstanding as they kept a clean sheet. We came back against a big team and got the job done, so congratulations to the players.

"In the first half it was a game that was locked tactically, we needed to create some space and the goal opened up the game.

"In the second half we had four or five chances to score the second goal. Overall, I felt that three points was just about right."

Goalscorer Gallas, a former Chelsea player, was pleased to see his team back on top of the table.

"It is good that we are still top because we put pressure on Manchester United," he said.

"They have to know that we're there and we'll be there until the end of the season. We know we have to work every game and we will not give up."




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