Arsenal went on to draw the game 1-1, with a long-term injury to Santi Cazorla also adding another headache for the Gunners boss.
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Ahead of our latest Premier League game against Sunderland, Wenger harked back to the previous game and the incident in which the Norwich defender Ryan Bennett appeared to launch our Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez into a camera pit.
‘First of all it’s unsafe to have a camera there.
‘Secondly, he didn’t need to push him like he did. Guidance to clubs is that camera positions should be 2.25 metres from the field of play where possible.
The incident involved Norwich City’s Ryan Bennett, as the centre-back pushed Sanchez in the back near the touchline, sending the Chile global tumbling towards a camera and the hoardings. In their place come Ola Toivonen, Duncan Watmore and Fabio Borini, with the former Liverpool striker fit again after injury.
Mesut Ozil, meanwhile, narrowly escaped a collision just moments before the push on Sanchez, only just avoiding the photographers’ pit behind goal. But he chose a space where he was free to dive in. “What happened to Cazorla, is that the ball was in the air, he wanted to pick the ball out, and he didn’t see O’Neil who came in and went through him”.
“We are not after John Stones if that’s what you want to know, we are focused on tomorrow’s game. I had players who, after two or three injuries, subconsciously refused to sprint”. We know his external knee ligament has been touched.
“It could be a rupture”, Wenger said. I don’t know if he needs an operation or if it will be the whole season.
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“Alexis had four weeks holiday, he was rested in some games and had all the medical signs to say he was OK to play between Dinamo Zagreb and Norwich”, said Wenger. “That’s not down to me to decide that, it’s down to the player [if] he is interested or not to join us”.
