Arsene Wenger slammed the “farcical” penalty decision that cost Arsenal in their thrilling 2-2 draw against Chelsea and vowed to fight a Football Association (FA) charge in his latest furious attack on the authorities.
Wenger was seething after referee Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty for Hector Bellerin’s challenge on Eden Hazard in the second half of Wednesday’s heated London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
The Arsenal manager felt there was not enough evidence of a foul to justify Taylor’s decision and Hazard rubbed salt into the wound by converting the spot-kick to cancel out Jack Wilshere’s opener.
After Marcos Alonso put Chelsea in front with six minutes left, Bellerin enjoyed a sweet moment of redemption as he blasted Arsenal’s 90th-minute equalizer.
However, Wenger’s anger was not soothed by that dramatic intervention and, recalling the controversial penalty awarded for a handball by Arsenal’s Calum Chambers in Sunday’s draw at West Bromwich Albion, he launched another broadside at the officials.
“We got again a farcical decision on the penalty, but we knew that [could happen] before the game,” Wenger said. “You could give 10 penalties like that a game. Since the start of the season, it is what we have to take.”
“I’m fed up with that. At the moment we have to face surprising decisions,” he said. “Nothing will change and we have to deal with that.”
Wenger was hit with an FA charge for his conduct toward referee Mike Dean after the Chambers penalty incident.
However, although he risked further censure with his latest outburst, the Frenchman, who could be given a touchline ban, insisted he has every intention of stating his case in front of the governing body.
“[I will contest the charge] 100 percent. You can listen to every interview and I stick to everything I said without any problem,” Wenger said. “I am 35 years in football and I know what I said.”
“What I find terrible is we just saw a great game and we talk only about this and for me it would be nice if we think about football for a change,” he added.
Once he had calmed down, Wenger reserved praise for Arsenal midfielder Wilshere, who scored his first Premier League goal for the club since May 2015.
Wilshere appeared to have no future with the Gunners when he was sent on loan to AFC Bournemouth last season, but Wenger said he deserves an England recall.
“He is where not many people expected him to be. Since Euro 2016 he hasn’t played for England. I would say that means everyone had given up on him,” Wenger said. “Now no one would be surprised if he was selected again. He deserves great credit for that.”
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said Wenger should show more respect for the officials as he responded to his rival’s complaints.
“For sure there is a lot of frustration from the coach after the game. Sometimes we don’t agree with them, but we must have great respect for the decision of the referee,” Conte said.
He also defended Alvaro Morata after the Chelsea striker missed a host of chances to continue his erratic first season in England following his move from Real Madrid.
“For a striker, it is very important to score. It is a pity, he had many chances to score, but I’m very happy with his commitment and effort,” Conte said. “This is the first season he is playing with regularity, because he didn’t play with Real Madrid and also Juventus. He has to stay calm and continue to play this way, the goals are coming.”
With Chelsea 16 points behind runaway leaders Manchester City, Conte conceded that the champions would not be able to retain the title.
“We must be realistic. It is very difficult to catch them. We fight for a place in the [UEFA] Champions League,” he said.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
RSS