Dortmund deserved victory – Arsene Wenger
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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits his side were ‘average’ following their 2-0 UEFA Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund.
Goals from Ciro Immobile and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the Gunners bottom of Group D following Anderlecht’s draw in Galatasaray.
After a disappointing performance in the Signal Iduna Park, Wenger believes his side were unfortunate in the first half but concedes that they were convincingly outfought in the end.
“I think we were not at the requested level tonight. They deserved their win,” Wenger told Sky Sports.
“I still believe that on top of that, we were a bit unlucky as it was a throw-in to us 10 seconds before half time. We conceded the goal just after that.
“Despite our very average performance, we had plenty of chances. That’s a little bit of a paradox,” he added.
“We could’ve been leading the game, but they had plenty of chances too.”
“We lost the ball at the throw in but it was still three against Immobile at the back. It’s still difficult to understand how we concede the goal. There were still enough people to stop the goal.
“Dortmund were very strong in midfield. They were stronger than us in midfield.
“But it’s very difficult on the night to go into any individual assessment of any player because as a team we were not at the requested level.”
Wenger defended his striker Danny Welbeck after the 23-year-old missed a couple of good chances, and believes that Dortmund’s energy levels were as a result of their ‘easy’ game against Freiburg on Saturday.
“Welbeck was dangerous but he tired in the second half. He couldn’t finish tonight but he looked lively and for all the rest he did well,” Wenger said.
“He needs a goal to get that off his shoulders.”
To complete a dispiriting night, Jack Wilshere limped off with an ankle problem.
“Wilshere has turned his ankle. It’s difficult to say how bad it is because I’m being cautious,” Wenger said.
“Normally it’s not very bad but because of his history (with ankle injuries) I’m being cautious.”
-skysports
ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson
[email protected] An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.
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