Arsène Wenger was heavily critical of Arsenal’s defensive performance and his team’s mentality, accusing them of complacency, after he watched them throw away a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 against Anderlecht.
The result meant that Arsenal are unlikely to advance to the Champions League last 16 as group winners, and stands to give them a more difficult draw in the first knockout round. Arsenal have exited the competition at the last-16 stage in each of the previous four seasons following difficult draws.
But Wenger, who stormed straight down the tunnel at full-time, did not look beyond the looseness that had undermined his team for the 90 minutes at the Emirates. The game ought to have over when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored Arsenal’s third on 58 minutes. But Arsenal switched off and it was not entirely surprising when the substitute, Aleksander Mitrovic, headed the equaliser in the 90th minute.
“At 3-0, we thought the job was done,” Wenger said. “It was fatigue, as well. They finished stronger and sharper. We got punished. Maybe, we subconsciously underestimated Anderlecht and we got punished. In the Champions League you need to be at the right mental level or you get punished. Certainly, we were not. Subconsciously, you can think the game is won.”
Wenger was scathing about the defensive performance, although he disagreed with the accusation that his team had been too open as they continued to press for goals. Besnik Hasi, the Anderlecht manager, said that Arsenal had “tried to play the same way” and “didn’t just sit back [at 3-0]”.
“We dropped off too much and we didn’t go into the challenges any more,” Wenger said. “Then, you are always open. We didn’t stop the crosses, the long balls. In the second half, it was bad defending more than being out-numbered.
“We gave a poor defensive performance from the first to the last. We never felt comfortable. There was a bit of bad luck because the first [Anderlecht] goal was offside but our defensive performance was not good enough. Across the pitch defensively, we were very, very poor.”
Wenger lost Mikel Arteta to a hamstring injury after 62 minutes and the manager was unable to say how serious the problem was. It is the latest muscular problem to affect the defensive midfielder and he is primed to undergo scans. “When we lost Arteta we lost a bit today,” Wenger said. “He was one of the few who defended well.”
Arteta said: “It is just not good enough. We have thrown everything away today. Even after conceding the first goal we still had a two-goal lead. It has blown our chances of winning the group and that is the main aim at the start of the competition.”
