Arsene Wenger insisted that Chelsea’s opening goal was “100% a foul” after Marcos Alonso collided with Hector Bellerin while heading home in Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat.
Bellerin had to be substituted after the challenge, with Wenger subsequently revealing he had been knocked out, as the Gunners saw their title hopes evaporate at Stamford Bridge.
Alonso’s challenge sparked huge debate over the legality of the goal but Wenger was quite sure he should have been penalised.
“It was a foul. If you look at a number of games recently we can feel sorry,” he told Sky Sports after the game.
“It was 100% a foul, it was even dangerous play. That doesn’t take anything away from the performance of Chelsea.
“We had a strong start but didn’t take the opportunities and after half time the second goal was the killer for us.”
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A solo goal from Eden Hazard and a third from Cesc Fabregas, after a bad mistake from Petr Cech, sealed the win despite Olivier Giroud grabbing a late consolation.
However, despite Wenger’s frustrations over the first goal he went on to admit his side had simply not been good enough.
“We were really naive and not clinical in our defending,” he added. “Then Chelsea looked the better side.
“We took risks and they were well organised and played well on the counter attack and looked powerful.
“We lost ball the many times. In situations we lacked maturity and experience. Individually some of our players were not at their best today.”
While Alonso’s goal could easily have been ruled out, it’s plain Arsenal were second best to a well-drilled Chelsea side who now look destined to win the title.
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