Arsenal, whose casualty list has been staggering this year, lost Koscielny after 10 minutes with a hip injury and, according to Wenger, a knee problem saw Cazorla playing “on one leg” in the later stages when Arsenal had run out of replacements.
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“It was a hard game”.
“We did that against Arsenal as well, but we showed if you do it well enough, with and without the ball, it is possible to get results”.
“There are plenty of players in Europe who play in every single game”. We will have to asses them. I don’t know how the guy would have taken that in the dressing room. He says it’s a kick on his hamstring but I fear that is not really the reality.
We have to go through that spell.
The progress of Koscielny is more encouraging for Arsenal; the French centre-back is expected to return to first-team training this week with the intention being that he take part in Saturday’s home game against Sunderland.
“Alexis Sanchez has been in scintillating form and you could see Arsenal missed him when he went off”.
“The conditions weren’t the best but Norwich are a well-organised team who were very solid at the back and risky on the counter”.
“We have three injuries”, Wenger told Sky Sports. “We looked the team more likely to win it”.
Sheffield Wednesday will take more than 4,000 fans to the Britannia Stadium as Carlos Carvalhal’s side seek to repeat the kind of display with which they beat Arsenal 3-0 in the last round. “I thought we got a better balance today”.
The Wales midfielder had been sidelined since October, but returned as a substitute in the Gunners’ convincing midweek win against Dinamo Zagreb.
Aaron Ramsey played for 72 minutes against Norwich after one month out with another hamstring injury, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replaced Ramsey at Carrow Road, also after one month out, and should move swiftly into contention for a starting place.
“The quality of the performance was below what we can do offensively”, he said. “I think all the team did a great job”.
“Overall it was a hard game but at least we didn’t lose it. That’s the positive of the day”.
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But, while he was often a spectator, we feel Cech deserves credit not only for the saves he made, but the way in which he commanded his penalty area and never allowed Norwich to apply sustained pressure.
