Arsene Wenger failed to hide his disappointment after his side were lucky to scrape a draw against a fired-up Everton at Emirates. Tomas Rosicky s deflected injury time leveller earned the hosts a point but it masked a poor performance as the visitors dom
Arsene Wenger failed to hide his disappointment after his side were lucky to scrape a draw against a fired-up Everton at Emirates.
Tomas Rosicky's deflected injury time leveller earned the hosts a point but it masked a poor performance as the visitors dominated.
"We played against a very good Everton team who for most of the game was more
dangerous and sharper than us," said Wenger.
"At the end of the day we dropped two points, but looking at the game we gained one point because we were closer to losing the game than to winning it.
"We got the point because we had the spirit and the desire. We had problems technically and because Everton stopped us from playing and in midfield they were dominant."
Leon Osman had given Everton a 12th minute lead but Denilson - who was later carried off injured - equalised when his shot deflected off Osman and past Tom Howard.
Everton, spurred on by the powerful Marouane Fellaini in midfield, appeared more comfortable with the snowy conditions and looked to have earned only their second win in 17 attempts against Arsenal nine minutes from time when Steven Pienaar raced through and cheekily chipped the ball over the advancing Howard.
But Arsenal piled forward in the closing stages and got their reward when Rosicky's strike deflected off Lucas Neill to wrongfoot Howard.
"It is an important goal because it shows the spirit of the team right until the last minute," added Wenger.
"With three minutes to go Everton had three or four corners and we didn't get out of the box. At that time I would have signed for a point.
"But we kept going and in the end we got that point which rewards the efforts we produced.
"We didn't produce the quality we are used to in our team play, we were a little bit flat, but the spirit was there.
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