Former Premier league Champion Arsenal suffered a 2-2 draw against Wigan on Wednesday following the massive 3-1 win against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786.
Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal, had made no less than 8 changes in the team that played against Chelsea. Despite losing 2 precious points, Wenger insists that he has no regrets about his team selections, and said that he had no choice but to rest
players who had endured a tough encounter against Chelsea.
Wenger said: "With all these matches we cannot play with the same team always - but I don't think that was a problem,"
"I don't think it's a shame - overall the draw was all right."
Wigan was the first to score in the game and Arsenal replied to make it 2-1. With just 12 minutes to go in the game, Wigan were reduced to 10 men; http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jack-Wilshere-c17463. However, Arsenal still failed to hold on to
their lead and, in the end, it was Sebastian Squillaci who headed the ball into his own goal from a set piece.
If Arsenal had won the match, they would have entered the new year level on points with Manchester United. Arsenal is now in the 3rd place on the table. The manager said that the festivity packed season is not helping their title challenge. He
added that Manchester United did not have the disadvantage that his team had. Wenger went on to say that his team had to play within 48 hours while their opponents had 3 days to recover from their last match.
This is one fact that probably Wenger did not think through, as Manchester United also played after 48 hours, and their opponents, Birmingham, had an extended rest as their match on the weekend was called off due to bad weather.
Reflecting on the match, Wenger said that it really was disappointing to lose points against Wigan. He added that the worst part was that it was an own goal that led to the match ending in a draw. The Gunners' boss went on to say that overall it was not
an easy game by any means. He said that Wigan played a high tempo game with a physical approach, which did catch his team by surprise especially at the start of the game. The Frenchman said that he could sense the vulnerability in his defence in the 2nd
half, and he was not at ease till the end. He added that he knew that they needed a 3rd goal to seal the win but it never came.
On the other hand, Wigan manager, Roberto De Matteo, was delighted with the point from the match. Especially, considering that his team played the last 12 minutes a man down, but was not at all happy with N’Zogbia for getting a needless red card and putting
the team under pressure. He said every player needs to be responsible and conduct himself accordingly.
Matteo said that ever since he took over the club, he has made sure that the team plays with the aim of getting all 3 points regardless of the opposition. He went on to say that big teams are often intimidating, and as a result teams like Wigan and others
end up being just happy with a draw.
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