Wenger slams Alonso goal

– Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (below) said Marcos Alonso’s opening goal for Chelsea should have been ruled out after his side crashed to a 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Arsenal rightback Hector Bellerin had to go off after being caught in the face by Alonso’s forearm as the wingback leapt to put Chelsea in front in the 13th minute.

Eden Hazard, with a sublime solo goal, and Cesc Fabregas put the game to bed for Chelsea, who now have a 12-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

“It was a foul. It was 100 percent a foul. It was even dangerous play,” said Wenger, who watched the game from the stands as he served the third game of a fourmatch touchline ban.

“That doesn’t take anything away from the performance of Chelsea.”

Wenger revealed Bellerin had been left so dazed by Alonso’s challenge he did not know his side were trailing as he left the pitch.

But when Chelsea manager Antonio Conte was asked if Alonso had fouled Bellerin, who was replaced by Gabriel, he replied: “In England, never. No.”

Hazard doubled Chelsea’s lead with a sublime solo goal in the 53rd minute, scything through the Arsenal defence from the centre circle before lifting a shot over his former team-mate Petr Cech.

“It is always good to score beautiful goals against a massive team,” Hazard told Sky Sports.

“I enjoyed the game and the goals. We scored three beautiful goals and we deserved to win.”

Asked what he had been thinking as he bore down on goal, twice beating Laurent Koscielny and leaving Francis Coquelin in a crumpled heap, Hazard replied: “To dribble like I did.”

Substitute Fabregas added Chelsea’s third, lobbing in from 25 yards after Cech had shanked the ball straight to him, before Arsenal replacement Olivier Giroud headed home in stoppage-time. – AFP