Wenger hails Gunners' class

The Gunners have seen their dreams of the title and European glory fall apart in recent weeks, having been the dominant force for the opening seven months of the campaign. However, Wenger's men cruised past relegation-battlers Reading to close the gap on second-placed Chelsea.

"This has been the best played at Arsenal since I've been here," said Wenger, whose side won the title unbeaten in 2003-04. "The collective technical display has been the best in the last 12 years, but we have not won."

He continued: "Maybe, with some distance, you could say that we had nothing to lose at the start of the season and when we were under pressure at the start of March, we lost a bit.

"We were unlucky and there was also maybe a lack of maturity. But when you see us win like this, with so much quality, it makes it even more important to keep the squad together.

"This will also help us to convince people we have to win with our own style."

Royals boss Steve Coppell was not impressed by what appeared to be a hand in the face of skipper Graeme Murty from Arsenal winger Alexander Hleb in an off-the-ball incident not spotted by referee Peter Walton just after the hour.

Coppell said: "Hleb slapped him across the neck and it is clearly visible on the video. It is there to see.

"I don't know how the procedure is at the Football Association. It seems some mystery man phones in and says 'have a look at the tape'.

"The whole process is unexplainable and arbitrary. Maybe someone in their front room somewhere will do something about it."