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Vieira rescues Gunners Arsenal ties with Spurs; Man Utd leads by 5 points
Updated: Monday December 18, 2000 9:21 PM
LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Tottenham Hotspur boss George Graham settled for a share of the spoils after their 1-1 draw in Monday's derby, although both managers were unhappy with refereeing decisions over the goals. In spite of Arsenal's 89th minute equalizer, Wenger had little to celebrate on the night as his team had been hoping to eat into Manchester United's six-point lead at the top of the English premier league. Instead, they had to settle for a meagre point in the rain at White Hart Lane after substitute Patrick Vieira's late strike. Wenger admitted: "Of course we are in the end happy with the draw because we came back from 1-0 down. But, as well, we feel that we dropped two points because we had the chances to make the difference early on." However, Wenger was clearly vindicated in his decision to send on Vieira midway through the second half, despite the French midfielder having been suffering from hamstring trouble. "I decided not to play him, and only if really needed, but I had no real choice," Wenger explained. "And I think it was a good decision because he came on, scored the goal and had no problem after the game. But he was nine days completely without training." Graham, who won a series of trophies as Arsenal's coach from 1986 to 1995, was disappointed more by the manner of Arsenal's equalizer than the fact they had denied his side victory. Asked it if was a fair result, Graham said: "I suppose you could say that. To hold arguably the second best team to a draw. I think we deserved at least a draw. "I was really really pleased with the first half -- the result more than the performance. To go 1-0 up I was delighted. But we knew that Arsenal would go forward a lot more, which they did, and they pinned us back. "Unfortunately, we just couldn't get out as well in the second half." Both coaches were unhappy about the goals. Wenger pointed the finger at Spurs striker Les Ferdinand, who was in the penalty area as Darren Anderton's shot came in -- the England midfielder's effort being parried by Arsenal "keeper Alex Manninger before Serhiy Rebrov subsequently nodded in the rebound." "You're never happy when you concede an off-side goal in such an important game," Wenger said. "It's difficult to understand that the linesman never lifted his flag because I felt that from early on, Ferdinand was off-side and interfering with the shot." Graham said that shirt-pulling had prevented Ferdinand from marking Vieira as the ball came over for the Frenchman's equalizer. "It's unbelievable, it really is, you've got to have a look at it," Graham said. "I've seen it a couple of times, how the goal stood I can't believe it."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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