Wenger slams unfair schedule after Arsenal held by Bournemouth

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has slammed what he feels is an unfair and uneven fixture list after his side were held to a 3-3 draw against Bournemouth on Tuesday.

Arsenal came off the back of a victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday, with Bournemouth given an extra day’s rest having played Chelsea on Saturday.

The Gunners were 3-0 down after 58 minutes at the Vitality Stadium before rallying back in dramatic style thanks to goals from Alexis Sanchez, Lucas Perez and Olivier Giroud.

Wenger revealed he was disappointed his side could not go on and win the game, feeling they lacked composure in the game’s final moments but he praised his side’s mental strength to recover.

“Look I am ready to play tomorrow again, as long as we play against an opponent who has played today as well. That is what I call fair, you know. And all the rest, we have to play when we are told to play. We want to play against a team with the same time of rest and preparation than we have.

[on Hector Bellerin’s uncharacteristically bad performance] “He had a knock. He was uncertain to play. That’s the problem when you have only 48 hours. You have to play some players, you come out of a game like Crystal Palace. We had three or four players who had to play tonight and we had to wait for the warm-up to see if they could play.

“We had problems to start to cope with the pace of Bournemouth. Defensively we had some problems tonight and I think it was a bit….you have to acknowledge the quality of Bournemouth. Congratulations to them but as well it’s too uneven to have only two days [recovery] to play against a team who had over three days’ rest. And it took us a while to get back into the game. On top of that we were a bit unlucky as well, conceded a penalty and after the third goal for us and 70 minutes played we were 3-0 down. So it was a mental test that we succeeded because we have a great resilience in the team and great mental strength and that came out.

“In the end you’re even frustrated not to have won the game. We missed some opportunities in the end, a corner that we hit into the hands of the goalkeeper. Instead of taking an in-swinger, we should have taken an out-swinger. These kinds of little details that may have helped us keep composure and play until the last minute. That’s down to keeping your head cool.

“When you play in the box he’s [Olivier Giroud] is dangerous and I personally think Perez scored an exceptional goal of pure class tonight. And Giroud again scored because we dominated and we know he can score a header. Look it’s…we have mixed feelings after a game like that because we wanted three points but we got only one. But when you’re 3-0 down after 70 minutes you take a point as well.”