Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Wenger lashes out at Premier scheduling
ARSENE Wenger blamed Premier League scheduling for Arsenal’s 3-3 draw at Bournemouth — but admitted he must “shut up and cope with it”.
Gunners boss Wenger lamented Arsenal facing the Cherries at Dean Court with one day’s less rest than Eddie Howe’s men, insisting two games in 48 hours accounted for a lacklustre opening 60 minutes.
Bournemouth powered into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Charlie Daniels, Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser, only to slip off the pace with captain Simon Francis sent off.
Alexis Sanchez, Lucas Perez and Olivier Giroud snatched a last-gasp draw for the Emirates Stadium men, with Wenger again hitting out at the scheduling in the Premier League.
“We had three or four players we had to play tonight that we had to wait until the warm-up to see if they could play,” said Wenger.
“Hector Bellerin had a knock so he was uncertain to play, and that’s the problem with only 48 hours between games. You have to play some players again.
“Laurent Koscielny too, and we had Gabriel Paulista that we didn’t start.
“And then I didn’t start Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain because I didn’t take a gamble with him, because I didn’t know who we’d have to take off.
“This complicates the job a lot but we have to shut up and cope with it.”
Bournemouth handed Arsenal a torrid opening hour, with Tottenham fan Daniels blasting a fine opener.
The ex-Spurs man’s crisp finish was backed up minutes later by Wilson’s penalty after Granit Xhaka upended Fraser.
When Fraser bullied Bellerin and then slotted the ball between Petr Cech’s l egs for Bournemouth’s third, the hosts thought they were home and hosed.
However, Sanchez headed his 13th Premier League goal of the campaign, before Perez buried a stunning volley — and Giroud headed the equaliser two minutes into added time.
Giroud met his goal with a scorpion kick celebration, a reference to his stunning flicked goal that sealed Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on New Year’s Day.
Wenger admitted fearing Francis Coquelin could be set for a spell on the sidelines owing to a hamstring problem, while also batting away thoughts of a title chase.
“You don’t really speak about us and we don’t look around us at the moment,” said Wenger, of Arsenal’s title chances.