Arsene Wenger: 'I’m more interested in what happens on the pitch than off it”

Published: 16 February, 2014
by RICHARD OSLEY at the Emirates

FA Cup 5th round
ARSENAL 2, LIVERPOOL 1

IF the FA Cup really is the easier of Arsenal’s remaining options for a trophy this season, it should not be forgotten that the draw has not been wholly kind up to this point.

It’s true that if they were to lift this cup, they would do so without leaving London, given the last two stages are at Wembley and the club has had the fortunate break of drawing four home ties in a row.

But the odds of having to play three of the Premier League’s top six before even being able to think about what a semi-final might look like is making it all a hard-fought wrestle.

Tottenham were downed in round three, the sticky challenge of Everton lies ahead, and today in-form, sparkling – dare we say it, a little cocksure – Liverpool had to be overcome. Only a fixture against Coventry City has been able to be taken at a canter in this competition.

The latest face-off with Liverpool was what is most commonly known in FA Cup parlance as “pulsating”, an end-to-end encounter which you could understand why Liverpool felt aggrieved to have lost, but by the same token Arsenal felt they merited.

“The best team lost,” insisted Brendan Rodgers. “We are very disappointed. We virtually dominated the whole match.”

Perhaps, that was flattering his charges a little, however irresistible the forward line of Suarez, Sterling and Sturridge may be.

Fairly put, “virtually dominating” the match might have looked more like the spell-it-out-on-the-videprinter scoreline Liverpool claimed against Arsenal in the league last week.

Today at the Emirates, that apparent 5-1 chasm was closed and the two sides looked closer to equal adversaries.

What Rodgers was certainly right about, however, was his belief that Liverpool should have had a second penalty, when trailing 2-1. It would take only the blindly partisan Arsenal fan to argue otherwise. Luis Suarez was clattered over by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with the ball long gone but ref Howard Webb inexplicably shook his head.

Minutes earlier, he had awarded Suarez a penalty – rightly – when the Uruguayan was clipped by Lukas Podolski. Contact was made and it had to be a spot-kick, even if the theatrical tumble led to familiar grumbles about Suarez’s methods.

The debate raged on whether the award of the first penalty, scored by Steven Gerrard, coloured Webb’s decision not to rule in favour of a second so quickly afterwards.

Not really balancing things up but a talking point regardless, Arsenal felt hard done by Webb too, as he declined to show Gerrard a red card for a late scything challenge while sitting on a yellow card.

As hard done by as Liverpool were for the penalty that never was, Arsenal did more than chase their visitors around the park all afternoon. Oxlade-Chamberlain was full of energy and a deserved scorer for the opening goal after a quarter of an hour. A free-kick cross was not adequately cleared and when Mesut Ozil swung the ball back across the penalty, Yaya Sanogo – the new Arsenal face up front – thrashed a shot into Gerrard’s chest and Oxlade-Chamberlain rattled in the rebound.

Oxlade-Chamberlain set up the crucial second minutes into the second half when he raced away down the right wing before centring the ball to Podolski who swept it home.

Daniel Sturridge had three good opportunities for Liverpool, the best a one-on-one clawed away from his feet by the improving goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. But Arsenal, at the other end, might have scored more themselves. Ozil’s low shot was repelled by Brad Jones, while Santi Cazorla was twice left alone on the edge of the box only to uncharacteristically rush the moment: one effort flying high into the stands, another wrecked by a comical air-kick.

With the game stretched and Arsenal holding on for the final whistle, there was still time for a slow-motion moment late on when Gerrard lofted a free-kick into the box and Daniel Agger’s header seemed to take an age to miss the top corner and float just wide. That was probably the last chance missed and Arsenal, with a deep breath, had crossed another hurdle.

Manager Arsene Wenger, in between a barrage of he-said-this-about-you questions about his opinion of Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, said Arsenal had scored “a vital win”.

He said: “I love football. I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’m more interested in what happens on the pitch than off it.”

ARSENAL: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Monreal, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Arteta, Ozil, Flamini, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Gibbs 76), Sanogo (Giroud 89), Podolski (Cazorla 69).
Subs not used: Viviano, Wilshere, Sagna, Gnabry
Attendance: 59,801