Sunday, April 23 2006 11:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Arsene Wenger branded Tottenham manager Martin Jol 'a liar' after his Arsenal side drew a hugely contentious north London derby 1-1 here at Highbury.

The Frenchman was furious when Robbie Keane gave Spurs the lead midway through the second half, despite two Arsenal players lying injured at the time.

Wenger angrily confronted Jol on the touchline, forcing stewards to intervene, and refused to shake his hand at the final whistle but his ire was stoked still further by the Dutchman's claim that he had not seen the incident.

Not even Thierry Henry's equaliser in the 84th minute could appease him. Arsenal have now wasted their chance to eat into Spurs' four-point advantage in the race for Champions League qualification.

Winning this season's tournament

Arsenal's likeliest route back into Europe's elite competition now appears to be winning this season's tournament.

That looked to be their only route in the 66th minute when Arsenal's Gilberto and Emmanuel Eboue collided with Tottenham's Jermain Defoe just inside the hosts' half.

The loose ball was scooped up by Michael Carrick and the England midfielder, seeing that Arsenal's players had stayed down, appeared to hesitate before passing to Edgar Davids.

The Dutchman sped down the left and squared for the onrushing Keane to hammer in his 16th goal of the season, prompting furious scenes.

"Their bench said that they didn't even see that but they lied about it," said Wenger. "I don't believe that they didn't see it. It was right in front of them and Carrick even hesitated before deciding whether to kick the ball out.