For Arsenal, the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa in the English Premier League on Saturday was certainly 2 points lost as their lead at the top of the table over Manchester United is now trimmed to just 1 point. Yet Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is pretty much satisfied with the result given the way the match was played and hails the battling spirit of his young and talented Arsenal side.
Wenger says:
We played a very good Villa side and in the first half you could see there was a hangover from last week, we had not completely recovered and were dominated by them technically and physically.
In the second half we came back into it with our mental resources. We battled until the very last second and in the end we got what for me was a very good point. It shows the team never lies down.
To lose would have been very difficult to swallow after what happened last week, but this point can provide impetus for the rest of the season.
It is psychologically important as well that we did not lose.
But deep inside Wenger must be seething with frustration and possibly with rage too as Arsenal’s lead over reigning Premiership champions Man United is now just a single point. Arsenal haven’t quite lost form but they have somehow not been at their lethal best that they were earlier in the season. So is the Arsenal bubble bursting? Maybe, maybe not.