Arsene Wenger was left cursing his side’s bad luck after two key decisions went against Arsenal in their 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.
David Silva’s goal was enough to hand all three points to the Sky Blues and return them to the top of the Premier League, but Wenger believes that things could have been very different had the officials awarded his side a penalty and not ruled out a Robin Van Persie effort for offside. The Dutch striker was also involved in the penalty incident, which occurred when his shot was deflected into the path of Aaron Ramsey who then went down under a challenge from Kolo Toure.
Although his manager admitted he had not had chance to watch a replay of the incident, he was happy to accept his striker’s word on what has happened.
“Yes [I thought it was a penalty]. Honestly I haven’t seen it but Van Persie is adamant it was a 100 per cent penalty,” Wenger said.
Speaking about the offside goal, he added: “I haven’t seen it again but we know that these decisions can turn the game and they didn’t go for us today. We were unlucky with the decisions but we have to take it on the chin.”
He also admitted that the result had hurt the side’s title chances, as it leaves them nine points behind City, a gap that Wenger believes them too far off the pace. Those following the best Champions League betting odds online will be wondering if the side can recapture their best form once European football starts up again.
However, he also took some positives from the game and said the side would not give up hope.