Wenger’s new spot-kick fury
ARSENE WENGER was fuming over another controversial penalty against Arsenal last night in their pulsating draw with Chelsea.
Wenger is already facing an FA charge over his remarks to the officials after Mike Dean handed West Brom a hotlydisputed spot-kick to equalise on Sunday at the Hawthorns. This time he was angry at referee Anthony Taylor’s decision, later calling it a ‘farcical’.
Arsenal led 1-0 through a Jack Wilshere strike when Eden Hazard went down after contact by Hector Bellerin. Hazard got up to equalise, then Marcos Alonso fired Chelsea ahead, only for Bellerin to level in added time.
‘The regret we have is we were first to score and after that we have a farcical decision,’ said Wenger. ‘We looked like we were mentally shot and could have lost the game — but we had the resources to come back to 2-2. Maybe it was a fair result.
‘Since the start of the season, it is what we have to take. I say it’s a farcical decision — you could give 10 penalties like that a game.’
Wilshere put Arsenal on their way with his first goal since May 2015, but they could not hold on to it. Indeed, Alonso looked to have won the game with seven minutes remaining. Only an injury-time equaliser from Bellerin shared the points. It could have gone either way, really.
Chelsea’s second was simplicity itself. Davide Zappacosta had been brought on to offer fresh legs against the inexperienced Ainsley Maitland-Niles and he turned the young left-back inside out before hitting a low cross. Alonso stole in very much in the manner of Frank Lampard.
It was a pity for Wilshere, though, settling for a draw when his finish ended close to a three-year goalscoring drought. Mesut Ozil cut the ball back, Rob Holding vied with Alvaro Morata, who got a fateful touch, Wilshere collected the scraps and outstripping none other than N’Golo Kante, beat Thibaut Courtois with a powerful, first-time shot.
Chelsea tried to force their way back into the game and induced panic. Bellerin had no need to make the challenge on Hazard, clipping his foot as they jostled for the ball in the area.
The home fans cried dive, but it was a foul. Hazard stepped up and, cool as you like, brought Chelsea back into it. Bellerin, however, got to make amends with his equaliser after Danny Welbeck won an important header. ‘It is a pity because when you have so many chances to score you must win the game,’ said Chelsea boss Antonio Conte. ‘Instead we are talking about a draw against a good team, but in this game we deserved to win as we created a lot of chances.’ Asked about the performance of striker Morata, who missed three one-on-one chances, Conte added: ‘It is not luck in this period, he has to continue to work and continue to improve. ‘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.’ Morata passed up a great chance on 14 minutes after Calum Chambers allowed a long ball to drop. With only Petr Cech to beat, the Spaniard missed the target.
The former Real Madrid man struggled from that point. A minute later, Victor Moses whipped in a cross at the near post which needed a touch but Morata got nothing.
During that spell, there were three good chances for Conte’s team, the best coming after 27 minutes when Cesc Fabregas fed Tiemoue Bakayoko, whose shot was palmed over the bar by Cech.
Ten minutes later, Granit Xhaka committed a clumsy foul on the edge of the area but Alonso fired the free-kick over the bar.
From the last attack of the half, a backheel from Hazard after another run was met by Fabregas, but his rushed shot flew over.
Arsenal were equally ambitious and had the best opportunity of the first half. It came in the 16th minute, a shot from Alexis-Sanchez tipped on to Courtois’ right post, before rebounding across the goal-line to hit the left post, and return to the Belgian’s grateful hands.
Earlier, a Sanchez free-kick from 25 yards had clipped Gary Cahill to deflect over. Mesut Ozil also came close with a free-kick.
Mirroring Chelsea’s misfortune, however, Arsenal’s most wasteful forward was striker Alexandre Lacazette. Either side of halftime, he had two great chances.
The first came from an Ozil pass after 22 minutes, a shot on the turn producing an excellent save from Courtois. After that, an error by Cahill left him one-on-one with Courtois, only for Chelsea’s goalkeeper to smother his shot.
At the opposite end, Cech saved from Hazard with his feet, then recovered after Bakayoko recycled the loose ball to tip Alonso’s header around the post.