Arsene Wenger: 'They had decided to make it very physical, to disturb our game, and sometimes they went a little bit over the edge'

Published: 16 April, 2013
by ALLAN LEDWARD at the Emirates

Premier League
ARSENAL 0, EVERTON 0

ARSENE Wenger claimed Everton’s Darron Gibson should have been sent off as the Merseysiders escaped with a point in a match the Gunners’ boss described as “hugely intense”.

Gibson had already been booked mid-way through the first half, before he blocked Theo Walcott, just a few minutes later. The Irish midfielder was lucky to stay on the pitch and went on to play an influential role in the match.

Wenger said referee Neil Swarbrick had failed to deal with a series of robust challenges in the first half that meant the home side struggled to find their passing rhythm.

“Basically, the game was very intense, physically,” said Wenger.

“In the first half the referee didn’t deal at all well with the intimidating physical challenges.

“We responded well, with the physicality, we had fantastic commitment.

“It was detrimental to the fluency of our game, but we kept going, we had good concentration.”

Asked if Gibson should have been shown a red card, Wenger said: “Yes. He should have had already a yellow card before the first one.”

He added: “It’s part of the game, we have to deal with that. The referee has to make the right decisions.

“It was a game of huge intensity tonight, a fight for both teams. You have to respect Everton for the effort they put in.

“They had decided to make it very physical, to disturb our game, and sometimes they went a little bit over the edge.”

Everton manager David Moyes, however, defended his side’s imposing style. He said: “We weren’t going to come here and let Arsenal stroke the ball around”

Olivier Giroud had the Gunners’ best chances, firing wide from a superb Aaron Ramsey cross in the first half, and having a similar opportunity smothered by Everton’s defenders in the second half, after a rapid break led by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The Toffees also went close on more than one occasion, but it was Arsenal who finished stronger, with Santi Cazorla, in particular, looking increasingly influential in the final moments.

The result puts the third-placed Gunners a precious extra point ahead of Spurs and Chelsea as their thoughts now turn to Saturday’s trip to Fulham.

Wenger added: “The regret I have is that we had the chances to score – maybe we used too much power, instead of technique, in our finishing.

“The second regret I have is that with the number of set-pieces we had at home, there has to be a goal in there, in the number of corners and free-kicks we had.”

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud.
Attendance: 60,071