Wenger: I have not seen Koscielny’s winner
Date published: Sunday 2nd October 2016 7:21
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that he couldn’t see Laurent Koscielny’s controversial winner against Burnley – but admits that he was told his side “were a little fortunate”.
The Gunners won 1-0 and replays showed that Koscielny’s last-minute winner came off his hand and into the net after the defender kicked it towards his own face.
Wenger admits his side were “fortunate” to come away with more than a point after a battle with a “tough” Burnley side.
“We are a bit fortunate today, because we are a bit jaded physically and made some technical mistakes. Burnley defended very well and they looked from every corner as if they could score. I have not seen the winner but I have been told that we were a little fortunate,” said the Frenchman, speaking to the BBC.
🗣 "I give the merit to my team, we kept going until the end and we got a bit lucky to win the game."#BFCvAFC pic.twitter.com/Xpy9anWwR0
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) October 2, 2016
“The impact of the other results today on the morale of the team could have been negative if we had not won. Burnley are a tough team though, everyone will find it hard here. When you come back here you know what it is like to play football back in years past.”
Wenger couldn’t hide his disappointment in the way Arsenal played despite the late win that moves them up to third in the Premier League table.
“It was a difficult game. We had to not concede and be patient against a team who are well organised with full spirit. We lacked sharpness and our legs were heavy and that was a game we could win 1-0 and also lose 1-0 on set-pieces,” Wenger continued.
“I have not seen the replay of our goal and I did not see from the bench it go in. Maybe we were a bit lucky there [with the handball] then, yes?
“If you want to win the league you have to be efficient at home and win some away games. We made many technical mistakes today. We wanted to win and knew it could be a big week for us and maybe we played with the handbrake and not enough freedom. It was down to Burnley doing well and us being a bit below our level.”
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