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'Football is football, it is cruel'

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal’s defeat to Swansea City shows how “cruel” football can be.

The Gunners dominated the first half at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night and deservedly took the lead through Joel Campbell, but they were pegged back before the break.

Olivier Giroud and Alexis were both denied by the woodwork and Swansea scored a second-half winner before an injury to Petr Cech compounded Arsenal’s woes.

"We had all the ingredients to win the game,” Wenger told Arsenal Player.

"It looked like everything was against us tonight. They had two shots and two goals. We hit the bar, we hit the post and we were unlucky with the first goal because I think there was a foul [in the build-up]. I’m very disappointed by that.

"Football is football, it is cruel sometimes. We need to live with that and show that we can bounce back .

"We played well,” added Wenger. "We dominated the game and in the second half I think we had 65 per cent possession. We had many shots on goal but after we looked tired at the end and it became more difficult."

The one consolation was that Arsenal did not lose ground on title rivals Tottenham and Manchester City, although they now trail Leicester City by six points.

“It means we are mathematically still in the game,” said Wenger. "We have to bounce back quickly and realise that we have a difficult game [at Tottenham on Saturday] and prepare well."

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