Wenger hails Song

Arsenal's Arsene Wenger praised the contribution of Alex Song after the 3-1 win over Birmingham City on Saturday. The Gunners looked to be cruising to three points after first-half goals from Robin van Persie and Abou Diaby, writes Stewart Coggin.
However, Lee Bowyer reduced the arrears before half-time after Vito Mannone failed to hold on to a cross. Arsenal created chances after the break and Andrey Arshavin scored late on to seal victory in front of a 60,082 at the Emirates Stadium. Despite the likes of van Persie and Arshavin continuing their good goalscoring form, it was Cameroon international Song who particularly caught the eye of his manager with a strong midfield showing.

VERY QUICKLY
"We were cruising, with two goals and wondering who would score the third goal but the Premier League is like that, it got back to 2-1," he added.

Alex Song

"In the second-half we didn't have the same fluency, not the same control of the game and not the same pace but in the end I still believe 3-1 is a fair result because we had plenty of chances in the second half. "Birmingham worked hard and regrouped very quickly when they lost the ball. I felt we lacked a little sharpness. I feel as well sometimes we tried to force the situation individually, when it was possible collectively, and that's why we didn't score more goals."

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish was happy with his side's attitude and called for them to kick on and get results in the upcoming matches.

SPIRITED PERFORMANCE
"It was always going to be a bonus for us (to get a result) playing against a team of Arsenal's quality and the disparity between the cost of Arsenal's team and ours but I felt we gave a spirited performance," he said. "But I felt we gave spirited performances against Spurs (a 2-1 defeat) and Man United (a 1-0 defeat) and now Arsenal and we've come away with nothing in all the games. We were a bit unlucky against Tottenham and on another day we could have go something from both the Emirates and Old Trafford.

"We've got to now start picking up points in the games ahead and there are no easy games in the Premier League. We are probably where most people expected us to be at the start of the season but I think the performances in eight of the nine games - not the Burnley game - have been good. I don't think we've looked out of place but we have lacked a cutting edge. We've had many chances but not converted them." McLeish then called on the likes of James McFadden, Cameron Jerome and Sebastian Larsson to start producing consistent performances, "to step up and cement their positions in the team".
source: premierleague.com