Alexis Sanchez was at the heart of all Arsenal’s threatening moments, -despite only returning from worldwide duty 36 hours before the game, and Albion frequently had at least eight outfield players behind the ball.
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The Gunners’ solitary defeat away to the Baggies in the Premier League came in October 2005 – they lost 2-1.
“In the Premier League now every game is physical, fast, with two totally committed teams – you can not afford to make a single mistake”.
Arsenal pressed and harried in the second half but could find no way through a resolute Tony Pulis defence as West Brom recorded a vital win over Arsene Wenger’s men, who missed a late penalty through Santi Cazorla.
But it proved to be an unhappy arrival onto the field of play, as he put the ball into his own net to put West Brom 2-1 up just before the half-time break.
Le Prof said. “One is a muscle problem for Arteta and the other one is a knee problem and I don’t know how serious that is but we will know certainly tomorrow, for Coquelin”.
The miss from the spot means Cazorla is still waiting for his first goal this season after 18 appearances in all competitions.
Arsenal came out strong in the second half.
The Gunners’ boss refused to blame any one individual for the defeat, and insisted that he was happy with his players for giving everything they had till the final minute.
“You’ve got (Mesut) Ozil, Cazorla, players of that quality too”.
“It’s a great result for us and we’re very very pleased”.
“I thought he was going to take it again to be perfectly honest. It’s a double-touch apparently and that’s what he’s given”, added Pulis. “He actually kicked it twice”.
By then, Arsenal had nearly drawn level, with Giroud seeing a penalty appeal rejected as he tangled with Jonas Olsson at a free-kick, then hitting the inside of the post with a terrific low shot on the turn.
28′ – GOAL! West Brom 0-1 Arsenal: Giroud makes the breakthrough with a header from close range following the free-kick by Ozil.
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Wenger clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk to the press extensively after the match, and his press conference lasted just a few minutes.
