Wolverhampton Wanderers managed to grind out a 1-1 draw versus Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, despite having Nenad Milijas sent off in the 75th minute.
It was a frustrating loss to say the least, with the Gunners tallying 27 shots, including 11 shots on goal, but Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey made numerous superb saves to deny Arsene Wenger’s side.
“It is frustrating but I am more frustrated by the result than the performance and the spirit,” said Wenger.
“You cannot fault the attitude or the commitment or the desire to win the game.
“We missed a great opportunity but we just have to keep going and take the positives out of the game today.”
Nonetheless, the Gunners did produce a solid performance and probably deserved to take the full three points.
Arsene Wenger’s men managed 73% of the possession, 13 corner kicks, and forced Wayne Hennessey into 10 saves.
“Their keeper had a good performance, they saved a few on the line, they did fight like mad,” Wenger admitted.
“It was more important for us to go in 1-0 up at half-time because I know with the way they defend they would not survive like that for 90 minutes and we would have much more space in which to play.
“At some stage they would have had to come out. But I felt we lost our way a bit between 30 and 40 minutes and on that occasion we were caught.
“The only thing we can learn today is to keep the spirit and when you’re 1-0 up to keep our level up.”
Wenger also added that the Gunners cannot be “too comfortable” after they get a 1-0 lead, instead, they should possess the killer instinct to hit number two, three, four, etc.
“At the moment what we have to learn is that when we are 1-0 up in some departments we cannot be too comfortable,” Wenger added.
“We were caught in a position where we can only blame ourselves.
“Apart from that their keeper had the game of his life, Wolves fought like mad and well done to them.
“I don’t know how many shots we had on goal and how many they had, but it was the kind of game that if you play it 20 times you win 19 and you draw one – and it was today.
“On the day we couldn’t afford it, it was today.”
However, the most frustrating part of the afternoon for the Gunners was failing to take advantage of Chelsea and Manchester City dropping points.
With a win, Arsenal could have gone fourth in the table, which is amazing when considering their horrendous start to the season.
“There are going to be a lot of twists and turns, but unfortunately we could not take advantage of that, which is the real frustrating thing today,” said Wenger.
“When you have the luck of the results yesterday and you play today, you can take advantage of it, that is where the worrying thing is because in the season you have to take your opportunities.”
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