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Wenger on the penalty and title race

The turning point in Sunday’s north London derby was undoubtedly the penalty awarded to Tottenham early in the second half when Mousa Dembele was brought down.

Arsene Wenger was asked for his view after the game. Here’s what he said:

on whether he thought the penalty was harsh…
Yes. We were a bit unlucky with the penalty decision. I think the penalty was harsh. It didn’t look dangerous to score, it didn’t look a deliberate foul. After, even speaking to some referees they say you can give it, you can not give it, so personally, being manager of Arsenal Football Club, I prefer not to give it.

on Victor Wanyama…
He was very lucky to stay on the pitch today [because of] a few fouls, the elbows on Walcott for example, but the referee makes the decisions. We have to cope with that and to deal with that. Still, nobody stopped us from scoring a second goal which is what we didn’t do.

on whether Chelsea and Liverpool’s position is a sign that it is harder for teams in Europe…
I don’t know. It’s a bit easier to prepare for the games because you do not have the intensity of a Champions League game, but if you ask them, both would like to play in there so you cannot complain about that. There’s a little physical advantage, for sure, when you play after the European weeks, but you have to live with that and I wouldn’t say that it is an excuse. Even if we are in front, it’s a small difference after 11 games - it’s very tight.

 

More polls to come later in the season!