“We scored an own goal, missed a penalty and missed a lot of chances”.
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In the 67th minute Joel Campbell missed a golden opportunity when he took an open one-time strike from inside the six yard box, but shanked it wide. The own goal gave West Brom a 2-1 lead going into the half, and they had somehow taken control of the game. You have to give them credit for that.
“It is a big blow for us”.
In another shocking result on the day, Liverpool trashed Manchester City 4-1 at the Etihad, helping Leicester City move top of the table with a 3-0 win over Newcastle United. We were maybe a bit too sure of ourselves and 35 minutes we are 1-0 up – 45 we are 2-1 down.
It was nearly 3-1 on 72 minutes when Jonas Olsson headed a Brunt corner off the underside of the crossbar and the offside flag went up against Saido Berahino as he tried to force in the loose ball.
“Our defending at that level was very, very poor”.
Coquelin has been one of Arsenal’s most consistent performers since breaking into the first team last season and with a huge lack of options in defensive midfield, a long layoff for the Frenchman could mean that the Gunners will be left dreadfully short. I don’t know how severe that is.
As it turned out, Clattenburg had penalised the midfielder for taking two touches as he slipped.
Wenger had noted in the build-up to the match that Koscielny, in particular, had been deeply affected by the attacks, which included a number of explosions outside the Stade de France, where France were playing Germany in a friendly.
“It looks hard to have players come back Tuesday night”, said Wenger. The North London club have always had the potential to mount a title challenge in the previous seasons, but injuries to their several players in crucial stages of the campaign have let them down on many occasions. “We produced enough to win the game”, he added.
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Asked why his men seem to stumble against the likes of West Brom and Stoke, Wenger said: “It is right and I don’t deny that”.
