Arsene Wenger has slammed referee Lee Probert after Arsenal‘s 2-1 defeat at Fulham.
An injury-time winner from Bobby Zamora has left Arsenal in fifth, one point behind Chelsea, after Steve Sidwell’s 85th-minute header had cancelled out Laurent Koscielny’s first-half opener.
Both of Fulham’s goals came after Johan Djourou received a second yellow card twelve minutes from time which reduced Arsenal to 10 men, and Wenger has hit out at Probert’s decision-making.
“It was a difficult game because it made a difference after we went down to ten men,” said Wenger.
“In my opinion the second yellow card for Djourou was a foul for us and we had a penalty in the first half not given.
“I felt the referee got it all wrong – and all on the same side.”
“I think that we wanted to keep the score at 1-0 too much, but when we were down to ten men it was very difficult because of tired legs.”
Wenger was also incensed at Probert’s decision not to award his side a penalty when Gervinho went down in the box in the first half following a challenge from Philippe Senderos.
“We have to cope with that,” said Wenger.
“But it’s difficult to lose a game like that because we felt that all the important decisions today, like Gervinho and the second yellow card which put us down to ten men, went against us.
“We had to battle hard and then to lose the game is very difficult.
“Gervinho did not exaggerate his fall too much. You should ask the referee why it was not given. I’m not the referee, I’m the manager, so if you ask me why the penalty was given, what can I say? I don’t know.”
With Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea all dropping points in the New Year weekend, Wenger maintains the failure to gain ground on their rivals makes the result and the perceived injustice of the refereeing decisions harder to accept.
“It is a massive missed opportunity when you look at the other results,” he said.
“But we have consistent problems to face and we will keep doing it with heart.
“It is very difficult to swallow the defeat today because I think that it’s not deserved.”
How do you stay up with football when on the move? With http://m.goal.com – your best source for mobile coverage of the beautiful game.