sport

WENGER: GALLAS HAS ARSENAL FUTURE

Wenger - Gallas has a future.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger refused to reveal the reasons behind his decision to strip William Gallas of the captaincy after his side crashed 3-0 to Manchester City at Eastlands.

Gallas did not travel with the squad after making critical comments about his team-mates in midweek, when he questioned their fighting spirit.

Wenger took exception to questions about the French defender's absence in his post-match press conference.

However, the Arsenal boss told Radio 5 Live: "Of course he has a future at the club."

Wenger added: "I will not speak about William Gallas in a post-match interview. He is a player who did not play today, so what can he do? Nothing.

"Why should we not talk about (Cesc) Fabregas and the other nine players who are not here. We can go on until midnight and I will give the same answer to the same question."

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes was delighted to see his side get back on track.

He said: "I think it is only the second time in the Premier League we have been able to beat Arsenal, so it is a significant victory for us.

"We were good value for the win as well. We had a game plan and wanted to break up the rhythm of their play.

"We did not want them to dictate how the game was going to shape up. The players stuck to their task and caused them problems.''

Ireland made the breakthrough by chipping the ball over Almunia in first-half stoppage time.

Then Robinho, who had been away on international duty with Brazil in midweek, had the crowd on their feet with a superb strike and Sturridge wrapped things up with a cool penalty.

Hughes said: "It was a fantastic finish by Robinho. When he is one v one with the goalkeeper you expect him to score.

"He will always demand the ball in key areas of the field and it was a great performance by him. Considering he only turned up from training yesterday, he was exceptional.''