Wenger explains his team selection

Arsene Wenger left Old Trafford on Saturday feeling relief and frustration.

Relief because we came back from a goal down to earn a point through Olivier Giroud’s late header. Frustration because we could have got even more from the game.

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The manager conceded that a draw was a fair result and explained why he chose to field all three of Aaron Ramsey, Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin.

“I knew it would be a bit more of a physical battle so I chose players who have experience and fight,” Wenger told Arsenal.com.

“That’s why my selection was because of that. At the end of the day, everyone gave their maximum and there is a special spirit in the squad. That’s why we came back, because the players who came on made the difference. That’s remarkable.

“Considering the first half, yes [it was a fair result]. We had a lot of possession but in the second half when we came out of the dressing room, we dropped. We offered less going forward, but when we were 1-0 down we found the resources again.

“We want to be about style and steel but today we were more about steel than style. There’s a remarkable resilience in the squad and that’s why we came back to 1-1. We didn’t have the usual fluency in our game. Was that because Manchester United blocked us well? I think it was because we were also not at our best going forward.”