Arsenal boss hits out at officials after Champions League defeat
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has questioned the point of having fifth match referees after his side fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Portuguese side Braga in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday 23 November.
Braga secured victory through Leite Nascimento Matheus, who netted two goals in the last eight minutes. As a result, Arsenal's hopes of qualification for the last 16 of the competition rest on them beating Partizan Belgrade in the last group game — a side
they beat 3-1 away from home in their previous match — after Braga joined them on nine points.
If Arsenal win against Partizan, they will advance due to their superior head-to-head record against Braga.
While Wenger conceded that his side had not performed to the best of their abilities, he hit out at the fifth officials. UEFA is trialling a system in this season's Champions League which sees an extra match official stationed behind each goal to assist
the referee.
He told Sky Sports: “The fifth officials are useless. We’ve had Emmanuel Eboue kicked-off the park and a definite penalty turned down — that’s more than bad luck. What are the fifth officials doing? How are they making it easier?
“It was a difficult performance, we didn’t create any chances and they really tried to slow the game down as much as they could. Then we were tried to attack we were left too open at the back and the lack of communication resulted in their goals and we got
punished.”
If Arsenal manage to progress from the group, they will have to do so as runners-up after Shakhtar Donetsk confirmed their place in the first knockout stage with a 3-0 win over Partizan on the same night.
As a result, the Gunners could face the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Chelsea at the last-16 stage, making their progression to the latter stages of the tournament more difficult than if they had topped the group.
Tags: