Arsenal Were Punished For Not Showing Sharpness, Says Arsene Wenger

Bournemouth earned a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace on Boxing Day, a result Howe says shows confidence is high in the camp ahead of a tough away double-header at Arsenal and Leicester City.

In the first half, the ball fell to Martina around 25 yards out, and he produced a ideal shot with the outside of his right foot, which curved in to the corner and past Petr Cech.

It was the second half of the match, however, that would make Arsenal fans question why they chose to watch soccer on Saturday. Subsequent goals from Shane Long (2) and Jose Fonte condemned Arsenal to their worst League defeat of the season thusfar.

The Arsenal defence claimed that Long had fouled Koscielny in the build-up, but referee Jon Moss wasn’t interested and the goal stood.

Long did get the ball in the Arsenal net on 34 minutes, but it was rightly chalked off for a nudge in the back of Mertesacker.

A lack of summer transfer activity should not take away from the fact that this Arsenal side should in the Premier League given what has happened around them.

“It is the quality of our performance that counts and we were not good enough to win the game (against Southampton)”.

Wenger introduced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Joel Campbell in the 64th minute and it appeared the players suddenly realised what was at stake as they tried to get back in the game.

Coach Arsene Wenger stuck with the side that beat City on Monday but Arsenal lacked their usual sharpness and struggled to create chances in open play.

Following Arsenal’s hammering at Southampton, Arsene Wenger said: “I believe what I say to my players is between my players and myself”.

“We lost too many challenges, they were sharper than us and we were a bit unlucky as well”, he said.

However, the wait to add to their 2004 triumph could well continue if the Boxing Day defeat to Southampton is anything to go by as Ronald Koeman’s men ended a six-match winless streak by romping to victory on a blustery Boxing Day evening.

The Gunners went into the game with a 100% record in December and knowing three points would move them above Leicester at the top of the table.

– The Gunners are unbeaten in their last 21 Premier League meetings with newly-promoted opposition (W17 D4).

Koeman has confirmed defender Cedric Soares (groin) and striker Graziano Pelle (knee) will again be absent, but he will be heartened by Shane Long taking full advantage of a first-team recall in the absence of the latter by netting twice against Arsenal. “We cannot master the referee’s decisions, but we can master our behaviour”, he said.