Man City 1 Arsenal 1: Arsène Wenger hails ‘top class’ Laurent Koscielny

Arsène Wenger was full of praise for Laurent Koscielny after the defender’s 82nd-minute strike earned Arsenal a point at Manchester City.

The Gunners fell behind before the break when Joleon Lescott nodded home from a corner following an evenly-contested first half.

But Wenger’s men snatched a point late on when Koscielny, who was filling in for flu-stricken Thomas Vermaelen, lashed home from close range after the home side failed to clear a Gunners corner.

“I have no worry for Koscielny because he is top class,” Wenger told Sky Sports. “We have three top class central defenders. We will rotate them a little bit but all three are top class.

“I feel we were defensively solid, we were in danger a few times on counter-attacks but overall it was a solid defensive performances.”

Wenger was pleased with the point overall but admitted that the Gunners were a little frustrated at not being able to push on the claim three points.

“[We showed] we are a strong team,” he continued. “It was a good team performance.

“We are on one side happy because we didn’t lose the game after being 1-0 down but on the other side a bit frustrated because we had the chances early on and late on and you want to take them.”

Reflecting on the goal conceded, Wenger added: “Of course [it was avoidable]. We didn’t need to make a corner, we first lost the ball in the middle of the park and then we made a small mistake on the corner. But Manchester City score a lot from set pieces and they did it again today.”

The result leaves Wenger’s men in fifth place in the Premier League table, level with Manchester City and trailing early pace-setters Chelsea by four points.

And Wenger is certain the Gunners can mount a genuine title challenge as long as they can stay focused.

“We believe it [that Arsenal can challenge for the title] but it’s down to consistency,” he said.

“What happened today should strengthen our belief but we are not the perfect team yet, we still have some room for improvement.

“If we keep the focus on that I believe we have a chance but we have to show that.”

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