Wenger furious over Cesc article

Arsene Wenger emerged from the latest setback in Arsenal's faltering title assault to declare his support for Cesc Fabregas, despite the Gunners captain appearing to undermine his boss in an interview with a Spanish magazine.

Wednesday night's 3-3 draw against Tottenham saw the Gunners drop to third in the table. The run up to the match was overshadowed by an interview with Spanish publication Don Balon in which Fabregas reportedly questioned Wenger's policy of putting faith in his young players, rather than bringing in established imports to help end the Londoners' six-year wait for a trophy.

The Gunners skipper said that his words had been twisted and a furious Wenger said: "The article bothers me. This was an article organised by the club with a check viewing of the article. That is not what he (Fabregas) said. He said completely the opposite."

He added: "Not only did the author not respect the agreement, but also he did twist completely the article and we are really upset about it.

"It was not an attack on my philosophy."

Arsenal had looked on course to close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester United when they raced into a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes of Wednesday night's derby.

Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie netted for the visitors while Rafael van der Vaart claimed a seventh-minute strike for Spurs.

Tom Huddlestone's 20-yard rocket put Harry Redknapp's men within one goal of their bitter rivals before Van der Vaart made it 3-3 from the penalty spot after Aaron Lennon had been brought down by Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny.