Time on Wenger´s side as Arsenal close gap

Arsene Wenger believes time is on Arsenal’s side after a 3-1 victory over a Newcastle team who now languish in the bottom three in the Premier League.

Wenger interrupted his pre-match preparations to glance at a TV screen that showed Manchester United and Chelsea had both suffered shock defeats on Saturday.

If his young team required any more incentive, it came with the knowledge that they could close the gap on two of the teams above them in the table.

Arsenal completed a win that puts Chelsea and Liverpool in their sights with Wenger still not writing off their chances of overhauling the current leaders from Old Trafford, although he admitted: “It’s a billion to one.”

Wenger said: “I saw the other results and thought it was a good opportunity for us to take advantage and close on the top of the table.

“Now we want to fight on and finish as close as we can to the team that finishes top.

“We have a very, very young side and they are improving from game to game. The spirit is great and we showed today that the quality is there.

“People don’t realise how young we are. Here we had six or seven players who are aged between 20 and 22 and we feel we can go forward from game to game.”

Even if they fail to break into the top three, Arsenal have vastly improved their prospects of finishing fourth ahead of Aston Villa.

Wenger said: “It is in our hands now. We could have been eight points behind them two weeks ago, but now it all depends on how well we play. We don’t have to focus as much on Aston Villa.”

Newcastle equalled Arsenal for nearly an hour before succumbing in a ten-minute spell which produced goals for Nicklas Bendtner, Adou Diaby and Samir Nasri midway through the second-half.

Even Wenger accepted that the outcome could have been very different if his goalkeeper Manuel Almunia had not saved a first-half penalty by Ryan Taylor, who was handed the task in the absence of Michael Owen, who was dropped to the bench in a surprise move by Newcastle’s caretaker-manager Chris Hughton.

The Arsenal manager admitted: “The penalty save was a very important moment in the game.”

Newcastle are in deep trouble, but the purpose and determination displayed throughout the first-half offers some hope they can get out of trouble in their final eight games of the season.

Wenger offered some encouragement, saying: “Newcastle had a very good first half and put us under pressure. There were chances for both sides and they could have been in front

“But we kept the tempo very high in the second half and finally won in a very convincing way.

“I thought Newcastle were a bit unfortunate because they lost players like Sebastien Bassong and Steven Taylor with injuries at the wrong period of the game.”

Hughton was dismayed at the way his players folded.

He said: It’s tough to take. Their second goal was the pivotal moment and from then on we saw Arsenal’s quality.

“We’re in trouble and it’s going to be a dog fight to end of the season. We are well aware of the position.”

The concerns within St James’ Park about the threat of relegation were reflected when chairman Mike Ashley was quick to arrange a meeting with Hughton after the game.

Hughton said: “The chairman came down to see the staff after the game, but that’s normal.”

There are suggestions that Ashley will bring in an experienced figure to take control until manager Joe Kinnear completes his recovery from heart surgery, although Hughton insisted: “I’ve had no indication that anything will change.”