Wenger Blasts Overconfident Arsenal After West Brom Defeat

“But overall I felt it dropped a huge blow when we scored and we just had to make sure they didn’t come back with a easy goal and that is where we were disappointed today”.

28′ – GOAL! West Brom 0-1 Arsenal: Giroud makes the breakthrough with a header from close range following the free-kick by Ozil.

West Brom fans chanted Santi Cazorla’s name in appreciation of his horrendous 84th minute penalty kick howler. After 45 minutes, we were 2-1 down.

Craig Dawson blocked from Kieran Gibbs but the visitors struggled in the face of committed Albion defending, though substitute Joel Campbell should have levelled in the 67th minute only to embarrassingly misfire.

The Spanish midfielder’s terrible afternoon ended three minutes after the break as Arsenal’s injury problems got worse and he limped off to be replaced by Mathieu Flamini.

“The problem is that there are so many factors that intervene in an injury – how well do you sleep, how well do you eat, how much stress do you have outside the pitch?” said the Frenchman. We will know tomorrow’.

Wenger refused to blame Cazorla for his missed penalty, which came amid confusion, as it initially appeared as though referee Mark Clattenburg had ordered a retake for encroachment.

Giroud, along with France team-mate Laurent Koscielny, was named in Arsenal’s starting line-up after the trauma of being caught up in the Paris attacks eight days ago, in which 130 people died.

Losing Coquelin would not have been a worry for Arsenal but the Gunners are thin in first team players with a number of them out with long injuries. On my side I would not explain our defeat by that. We are all down.

However, perhaps buoyed by the loss of Coquelin, the Albion fought their way back into the match and equalised when James Morrison fired home after a fine free kick from Chris Brunt.

Arteta and Francis Coquelin limped off to add to Arsenal’s injury woes ahead of their must-win Champions League game with Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday. I thought Arsenal were very good, particularly second half when they ramped it up.

Sanchez has played 2367 minutes of a possible 2790 for club and country since the beginning of June, making him the Premier League’s most-used player. You’ve got Ozil and Cazorla who have wonderful talent.