Arsene Wenger admitted his Arsenal side looked edgy as they fought out a scoreless draw with Manchester United at the Emirates on Wednesday.

Wenger’s team were unable to secure the win that would have taken them back to the top of the Premier League, but the Gunners boss was pleased nevertheless with the response to their 5-1 drubbing at Liverpool four days earlier.

“It was important not to lose, but it was also important to win,” said the Arsenal boss afterwards. “I felt we were nervous.

“Our team was highly focused not to concede, and that maybe restricted our game going forward a little bit because we were certainly hit by the five goals we conceded on Saturday, and you could feel that here.”

Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla came closest to breaking the stalemate for Arsenal, while former Gunners striker Robin van Persie’s header forced a superb save from Wojciech Szczesny late on.

Wenger’s side now take on Liverpool again in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday and then tackle Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Wenger added: “(It was) first not losing tonight, then (we can) come back to our normal level offensively.

“We have come out of two difficult games and are still in a strong position – that is the only positive.”