Arsene Wenger lashed out at the “unexplainable and scandalous” decisions taken by the referee as Arsenal suffered another 5-1 defeat by Bayern Munich.
Ten-man Arsenal bowed out of the UEFA Champions League in embarrassing fashion on Tuesday as they lost by the same scoreline as the first leg to suffer a 10-2 aggregate defeat – the worst of any English side in the competition’s history – at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Arsenal started the match on the front foot and grabbed the lead through Theo Walcott’s thumping strike in the 20th minute. They dominated the proceedings for large parts of the match following that goal before Laurent Koscielny was sent off in controversial circumstances in the 53rd minute.
The match then turned on its head, just as it had following Koscielny’s substitution in the first leg, as Bayern made merry of the numerical advantage, scoring five goals in the next thirty minutes to hand Arsenal another 5-1 defeat and send the Gunners crashing out at the Last 16 stage for the seventh consecutive season.
In his post-match press conference, Arsene Wenger refused to pin the blame on his side, and lauded them for playing with spirit and pride. The Arsenal boss instead took aim at referee, Tasos Sidiropoulos who, Wenger felt, killed the game with his officiating on the night.
“We produced a performance with the spirit and pride we wanted,” Wenger said. “After that the story finishes badly. We were really unlucky because it was a 100% penalty at 1-0 in the first half on Walcott. In the second half the ref killed the game. He was very, very powerful for Bayern.
“Lewandowski was offside and it was not a penalty and, on top of that, he gives us a red card that kills us completely. Bayern are a good side but they can say thank you to the referee for the decisions in the second half. It leaves me very angry and frustrated.
“Even more so because we are in a difficult period. It is absolutely unexplainable and scandalous. I will take a lot of criticism but it doesn’t change my mind. It doesn’t make them right. The players have not let me down. The referee has let us down.”
Indeed, the referee and his assistants gave more than one contentious decision on the night and it was a big contributing factor towards the result in the end, as Arsenal suffered a fifth defeat in their last seven matches in all competitions.
The result, though, heaps more pressure on Wenger, after 200 Arsenal fans reportedly marched from the site of the Highbury Stadium to the Emirates in protest of their manager prior to the match. His side must now move on quickly from this defeat and aim for progression into the semifinal of the FA Cup as they welcome Lincoln City to the Emirates on Saturday.
