• Premier League

Szczesny convinced the title does not belong to United

ESPNsoccernet staff
April 18, 2011
Robin van Persie appeared to have won Sunday's clash with Liverpool for Arsenal, before a huge dose of late drama © PA Photos
Enlarge

Wojciech Szczesny believes Arsenal are still in the title race despite the dramatic late equaliser that cost the side two points against Liverpool.

The Gunners looked to have secured victory when Robin van Persie converted a penalty deep into injury-time, but Emmanuel Eboue then bundled over Lucas Leiva to allow Dirk Kuyt to make it 1-1 from the spot with the last kick of the game.

The result means Arsenal have won just one of their last five league games and trail Manchester United by six points with six games to play but, as the leaders still have to play Arsenal and Chelsea before the end of the season, Szczesny remains optimistic.

"Of course we still believe we can win the title," he told Arsenal TV Online. "We still have to play United and they also have to play Chelsea. They will drop points and we believe we're good enough to win every game remaining.

"The draw was a huge disappointment because with a minute to go we scored what we thought was a winning goal. We're all gutted. It was a cheap penalty to give away whether it was one or not. We needed to win really badly to keep the pressure on United."

Arsenal now face a visit to arch-rivals Tottenham as they look to remain in the race for the title.

"Tottenham is a very good match for us to come back from a big disappointment and we owe it to the fans because they're very disappointed about what happened against Liverpool," Szczesny added. "We owe them a result at White Hart Lane."

Asked whether Chelsea - currently trailing Arsenal by two points - could overtake the Gunners, he added: "We're only thinking about winning the title, not who is behind us. We go into everything to finish first. We are Arsenal, we don't want to finish second and we definitely don't want to finish third."

Szczesny made his first appearance for Arsenal since dislocating his finger at Barcelona on March 8 and he revealed he has not fully recovered from the injury.

He added: "I still feel a little uncomfortable when I'm in goal. I wear a special protection but it didn't cause me any trouble against Liverpool."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices