Wenger on the draw, character and title

Arsene Wenger spoke to the media after his side's 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Saturday evening. This is what he had to say:

on whether it was a fair result…
Maybe, yes. We were a bit nervy at the start, insecure in our attitude by our last two results. But even when we were 1-0 down you could see the team was ready for a fight and we controlled the second half - we controlled the first 20 minutes. Overall in the first half maybe they had another chance, in the second half we had a second chance. We could have won it in the second half but overall it was a game of quality between two good teams and the game was played with a great spirit on both sides.

on the second-half performance…
They have played some good performances. With what happened last week of course if you read the newspapers you can't believe that, but if you look at our results since the start of the season, we are in the semi-final of the FA Cup. We knocked out Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton, we lost against Bayern with 10 men and played a 1-1 [in Germany]. You don't do that if you're terrible and with the players we have out and what we have shown today, I think it's remarkable. I would like to see Toure, Silva and Kompany at home today and play the same game again. I think the team has been remarkably consistent, we have gone through a nightmare last week. Of course you could see with the 2-2 against Swansea that the team was on the floor and hugely disappointed because we conceded an own goal in the last minute. Despite that, we responded very well here.

on contrasting performances…
You cannot even say we played well or not well [at Chelsea]. When you're 2-0 down after 10 minutes and if you're 3-0 down with 10 men in a big game there is no game anymore.

on playing badly at Chelsea…
I do not say that, I just think it was a nightmare. You cannot even say it was a game. When you have to attack with 10 men and you're 3-0 down you have no chance anymore.

on the importance of Flamini…
I believe we played 1-1 at Bayern with the team who played at Chelsea. I like Flamini because I signed him at the surprise of everybody and I think he has done extremely well. He gives us the balance and qualities that are needed in the team. But overall we have played some good games with him and some good games without him.

on where it leaves title challenge…
What happens at Chelsea doesn’t help us because it does not give us more points here. It just shows that we have absolutely to fight until the end of the season because everybody can beat everybody. Chelsea lost today at Crystal Palace, so that means all of us have to be careful and consistent. Mathematically we are still in there but it is not in our hands. That means you cannot say it is just depending on us and it is not realistic maybe to say that today. We have ti look above us and behind us as well, because behind us they are coming as well.

on players retaining belief…
We will fight until the end. This team has qualities, it is has quality on the pitch and quality in attitude as well and it will do that until the end.

on whether team should feel nerves…
I think we have been consistent since the start of the season. Maybe you never played at that level and maybe it is very difficult to explain the mental insecurity that is in every single team. One or two bad results… Real Madrid for example went 30 games unbeaten and then lost in a big game, then lost the game after because the disappointment is so difficult to deal with. The pressure after bad results is so big that it is easy for nobody.

on Rosicky penalty shout…
I think we scored a goal that was given offside, I would like to see if it was offside. For me, Giroud was offside, Flamini I don’t know. The penalty I don’t know, I have to watch it again. I would have given it! But you are not surprised by that.