After 22 years, Arsène Wenger’s long unbeaten run in the Emirates FA Cup third round has come to an end.
We were knocked out of the competition with a 4-2 defeat at Nottingham Forest, and the manager who has won the trophy more than any other says his first-ever taste of defeat at this stage “hurts very much”.
“I am very disappointed by our performance because Nottingham Forest were the better team out there, the most dangerous and won many challenges,” he told Arsenal Player.
“We were not at the level and that’s it. People think maybe subconsciously that the Championship will be easier, but it’s more difficult because many of these players have been in academies, they are prepared physically and they are at the level. I can congratulate Nottingham Forest because they were the better team tonight.
“It hurts very much. I’m very, very disappointed because I love the cup competitions and unfortunately you jump out of the train now - you cannot come back on it and we have to focus on our next game.
“It’s the semi-final of the League Cup and we have to absolutely turn up to it."
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.