“Sometimes it happens and now it is important to recover and focus on the next game”. Coquelin, who left The Hawthorns on crutches, was assessed for ligament damage, with Arsenal expected to confirm today that the 24-year-old faces a spell on the sidelines that could run well into January.
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Aaron Ramsey returned to training on Monday and is in contention for the Champions League clash at home to Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday. Wenger now must surely be mulling over his decision of not signing any outfield player during the summer transfer window, even though he had a considerable amount of money to spend.
If Arsenal was going to win the Champions League, isn’t this exactly how it would go about it?
Olivier Giroud put the Gunners in front just before the half-hour mark, before the hosts hit back with two goals in the space of five minutes before half time.
Before half-time the visitors were undone again, Arteta sliding the ball into his own goal after a cross by James McClean, whose strength and boundless enterprise gave Hector Bellerin a torrid afternoon.
Cazorla was given the chance to level in the 84th minute following Brunt’s foul on Sanchez, but the midfielder lost his footing as West Brom escaped to take all three points.
Midfielder Arijan Ademi failed a drugs test after Dinamo’s surprise 2-1 victory over Arsene Wenger’s side on matchday one and has been banned for four years by UEFA, though he has always protested his innocence.
“That is where we have to be mature”. I could feel it from outside.
“I will give myself time, we have players who play in this position like Mathieu Flamini and players who can play there like Calum Chambers”.
Laurent Koscielny, who had been uncharacteristically sloppy in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur before his hard global break with France, endured another off-day, and Per Mertesacker also looked inadequate.
Only Maccabi Tel Aviv and BATE Borisov (both 11) have conceded more goals in the competition this season than Arsenal (10).
“I don’t know if I would have the support of anybody but I came out on that and as a result we had a doping control from UEFA on Friday”, he added.
“We have Ramsey and maybe Oxlade-Chamberlain back for the weekend and Walcott will be the next one – all the other players are long-term injuries”.
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After watching his side hammered 5-1 at Bayern Munich in their last European outing, Wenger said: “Let’s hope Bayern beat Olympiakos and we win at home against Zagreb, which would leave us with a chance to qualify from the last game”.
