Arsene Wenger Disappointed With the Officiating During Arsenal's 3-3 Draw at Bournemouth

Published on: 03 January 2017

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he was disappointed with the penalty decision that went against his side during their 3-3 draw with Bournemouth.


Granit Xhaka was penalised for an altercation with Ryan Fraser, with Callum Wilson converting the penalty to send his side 2-0 up. Fraser then scored Bournemouth's third before a stirring Arsenal comeback earned the Gunners a point.


Speaking toBBC Sportabout the penalty, Wenger said:It is no penalty, or if it is then it's a foul [on Bellerin]. The push from Xhaka was much less strong than the push for the goal.

"They started much faster and with 20 minutes to go we were 3-0 down so that's a mental test. We refused to lose the game.


"Bournemouth deserve a lot of credit but the disadvantage is too big to play against a team with three and a half days recovery. That's too big a handicap. But they are a good team with quality and they played with pace.


"We had some players at half time who had problems. I changed it early in the second half and I believe we refused to lose. There's a great resilience in the team and we saw that today.

"We dropped two points but we have to do better in the other games and hope other teams will drop points.


"It was not a result we wanted before the game but at 3-0 down we'd have signed for 3-3. We were unlucky in some decisions tonight."


Arsenal visit Preston for their first FA Cup tie on Saturday before travelling to Swansea on the 14th.

Comments