Robert Snograss' penalty means that Arsenal have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last five FA Cup ties

Leeds manager Simon Grayson has paid tribute to his players after they forced an FA Cup replay with Arsenal, following a 1-1 draw at the Emirates.

Grayson's side led Arsenal through a Robert Snodgrass penalty, before Cesc Fabregas saved the Gunners from the spot in injury time.

"I'm delighted to get a result," Grayson told BBC Sport. "Even though we were a couple of minutes from winning.

"Given the way that we performed, we can be immensely proud."

The Leeds boss went on to single out the performance of his goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who pulled off an impressive save to deny Arsenal midfielder Denilson in the closing moments.

"Arsenal had some big players out there today but we defended well as a team," said Grayson. "We had some luck here and there and our goalkeeper made some good saves, but at times we caused Arsenal some problems."

"[Luciano] Becchio had a great header at 1-0, if that had gone in it might have been an opportunity to win the game. But I am obviously delighted to get a result against a top team."

"We were not going to come here and let Arsenal have possession of the ball," added Grayson. "We had nothing to lose going into the game, there was nothing at stake for us apart from our own pride. So I told the players to go out and enjoy the moment because they might not play here again.

"They've certainly done themselves a lot of credit today. I thought the atmosphere was fantastic here today with our fans and we've given them something to cheer about."

606: DEBATE The Leeds fans were excellent and it is great to see a big club on the way up after all the turmoil you have been through. powerkinghenry

Leeds looked likely winners of the encounter until a dramatic finale, which started when Walcott appeared to have been fouled in the area by Alex Bruce, with referee Phil Dowd pointing to the penalty spot, only for his assistant to overrule, apparently for an offside against Nicklas Bendtner.

However, Walcott later admitted that he had dived to try and win his side a spot-kick.

The 21-year-old said: "I want to apologise to the managers because I actually dived. I was trying to win the penalty.

"I said to one of their players 'would you have done it?' and he said he probably would have.

"I am not the sort of player to do it, but I own up to it and apologise. It is something I don't want to see in my game.

"It was one of those things. I am not happy with myself for doing that, but I am happy that we got the draw.

"I had a little joke with the referee afterwards saying 'that was my first dive, can you tell?'

"I don't have to own up to it and I can't speak for other players, but I have just expressed how I feel. I hope people respect that."

Walcott went on to win a penalty within the laws of the game when he was tugged back by Ben Parker and Fabregas stepped up to blast the spot-kick past Schmeichel.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitted Leeds did well in preventing the hosts from reaching their fluid best, suggesting the number of games the Gunners have played in the last two weeks contributed to their lacklustre performance.

Ideally we wouldn't have wanted the replay but it's better than going out. We are competitors that love to play football so we can't complain about playing games Arsene Wenger

"Part of it is down to Leeds who stopped us from playing and part of it is down to the lack of pace we had in our combination game," said Wenger. "That's why we never got to our full pace, apart from the last 20 minutes when we looked dangerous every time.

"But overall I have to give a lot of credit to Leeds who showed again today why they created some shocks last season.

"It is difficult every three days to be completely focused and 100% committed," added Wenger whose side have played five games in the last 13 days. "What is terrible in the modern game is that if you are not 100% against Premier League or Championship opposition life is difficult. And that's what happened a little bit to us today."

"Ideally we wouldn't have wanted the replay but it's better than going out. We are competitors that love to play football so we can't complain about playing games. It's a bit congested when you look at the fixtures but overall I hope we can do well and qualify at Leeds."

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