Wenger rues mistakes as Lambert hails Norwich effort

Arsene Wenger slammed Arsenal’s defensive frailty as the Gunners dropped two vital points on Saturday in the race for third.

The Frenchman was furious after his side had fought back from 2-1 down at half-time to lead 3-2 with 10 minutes remaining against Norwich City, only for Steve Morison to provide a hammer blow to Arsenal’s Champions League aspirations with an 85th-minute leveller.

The draw means they must now rely on Tottenham and Newcastle slipping up to guarantee Champions League qualification.

Arsenal created a host of chances in the final moments but failed to beat John Ruddy who pulled off a string of fine saves.

“It was five or six mistakes in the same goal,” a frustrated Wenger said.

“We created at least 10 chances but again not only did we not take our chances, but on top of that we gave them a third goal in a situation that was absolutely unbelievable. In the end we got punished for our mistakes.

“We were (too frail), of course. We lost too many challenges and it is surprising because recently we were quite good, but today I feel that defensively the whole team was very poor.”

Wenger also lamented his side’s complacency after going 1-0 up in the opening stages and allowing Norwich to score twice in 15 minutes to lead at the break.

“We have to analyse the reasons why we were not sharp enough in the first half. There is no obvious reason because we prepared normally as we always do, but maybe subconsciously (we thought) we would win it,” he said.

“Norwich played well, you have to give them credit but the quality of our first half was absolutely not at the level we wanted in a decisive game like that.

“(A draw) leaves us with one thing – it is not in our hands anymore. We have to wait for the results to see where it leaves us tomorrow night. We knew that if we didn’t win today, that is what would happen.”

Meanwhile, Norwich boss Paul Lambert hailed his side’s display against Arsenal as ‘the best performance of the season’.

Norwich recorded a memorable 2-1 win against Tottenham in their last visit to the capital, but Lambert believes Saturday’s display to be the pinnacle of their impressive season.

“That was our best performance of the season. We were absolutely brilliant, it surpassed the performance at White Hart Lane,” he told ESPN.

Both sides had strong shouts for a penalty waved away by referee Anthony Taylor, with Russell Martin being hauled down by Laurent Koscielny in the first half before Robin Van Persie was bundled over by Kyle Naughton late on.

Lambert felt aggrieved that his side were denied the chance from the spot, which could have given them a two-goal lead at half-time.

“We should’ve had a penalty, it was a stone-waller,” he said. “No doubt Arsenal will be wondering about the one they never got but if you look at it, Gervinho was offside.”