Wenger blames defence for Anderlecht collapse
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger blamed his defenders for surrendering a 3-0 lead to draw with Anderlecht on a night of Champions League drama at Emirates Stadium.
Wenger suggested he was “angry and frustrated” after seeing his team all but blow their hopes of topping Group D with just two games to go, as he singled out his defensive line for especially harsh criticism.
“Defensively we were poor from the first to last minute today,” he told Sky Sports. “When they came back to 3-2, you want to secure yourself again and we were maybe not cautious enough because we wanted to score goal number four. If you look at goals two or three, it is very poor defending.
“I was never completely sure we were not in danger because you could see the whole game that we didn’t defend well. Everyone is down tonight because we give a 3-0 lead away and you can imagine what kind of consequences this has for the spirit of the players.
“The end result is very disappointing. We had a bit of bad luck because the first goal is offside. A bit of lack of concentration because we think the job is done and a bit of fatigue as well because we had problems to finish the game. We didn’t win the challenges any more at the end.
“Now we have to win our next game to see if we have a chance [to top Group D]. It is likely now Dortmund will win the group, but our first worry is to qualify. One point should be enough, but it’s not done.”
Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta pulled few punches as he gave his version of his side’s surprising late collapse that allowed Anderlecht to claim an improbable 3-3 draw.
“We cannot afford to make the mistakes and concede three goals after going 3-0 up, it’s just not good enough, very disappointing,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “We missed a great opportunity to finish the job off.
“Even when we conceded the first goal, we still had a two goal lead at home and we know what we are playing for. This was a massive night for us to finalise [qualification] for the group stages.
“We need to analyse the mistakes and find out what happened in the second half because it is not the level required at this club.
“The main aim when you start the competition is to win the group and we threw everything away today. You can’t miss chances like this in the Champions League because every team has quality and you can see what happened.”
Arsenal’s desperate night was given a final blow when Wenger confirmed Arteta would miss Sunday’s Premier League trip to Swansea after picking up an hamstring injury against Anderlecht.
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