Wenger berates ´very bad´ playing surface

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger criticised the quality of the Old Trafford playing surface after his side were beaten 1-0 by Manchester United on Monday.

Wenger watched his side struggle to execute their customary free-flowing passing game on a sub-standard pitch that robbed his creative midfield of their usual spark.

“The intensity was high but it was a very bad pitch,” Wenger said.

“The technical quality suffered as a result and that’s why you saw mistakes from both sides.”

Despite the defeat, which saw Arsenal concede top spot to United, Wenger was pleased with his side’s performance and also paid tribute to the hosts’ miserly defence.

“Overall, you have to give credit to United’s defensive quality,” he said.

“We tried everything to create chances. I thought we were unlucky to lose the game, but we have to take encouragement from tonight’s performance.”

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson echoed Wenger’s sentiments about his backline, while lauding Park Ji-Sung who scored the game’s only goal after 41 minutes.

“The back four were magnificent. Our form is improving and if the defence shows that sort of consistency (then we’ll do well),” Ferguson said.

“Park’s record against Arsenal is very good, he is in fantastic form.”

“Unfortunately we’re going to lose him to the Asia Cup for seven matches, which is disappointing.”

The hosts could have won the match by a bigger margin were it not for striker Wayne Rooney’s uncharacteristic penalty miss, the nature of which surprised Ferguson.

“It was an unusual penalty, normally Wayne always keeps them down, I’ve never known him to hit one over,” Ferguson said.