Arsenal 1-2 Dortmund
Wenger reacts after the loss…
on the match…
It was a game of high intensity but very few chances. Dortmund were well organised to stop us from playing, and I must says as well that we were not as good as we can be offensively. Some of our players were not as fresh as they were recently. But we put ourselves on the back foot with the first goal and naive for the second goal. If you look at the number of saves our keeper had to make tonight and you concede two goals, you can say that we can only look at ourselves for not being mature enough in situations like that. If you cannot win the game, you don’t lose it. Especially in the second half when we were on top, we made things difficult for ourselves by giving them the second goal.
on Lewandowski’s booking…
It looked like [it could have been a red card] but I haven’t seen it well, but the referee was in a much better position than I was and didm;t decide to do it. I will have to look at it again, I don’t know.
on Wilshere…
You could see that he was not completely himself and that is why i decided to take him off. At the moment it is his desire to play that gets him through the game. it looks like he was handicapped after the first tackle he got. he looked like he landed awkwardly. he looked to me that he limped a little bit. We will see how he responds in the next two or three days, we haves to wait for the medical assessment.
on not reaching their best form…
I felt we started a bit hesitantly and what we did not do against Napoli. We have them confidence. Overall I believe that our fluent football going forward was not quick enough and that is basically what happens sometimes because we play many games.
on the state of Group F…
It is tight and difficult for us, but possible. You have three teams with six points, and we have played twice at home and once away, so that means we need a result away from home – but we can do that.
on Dortmund’s intensity…
Physically, yes [they were a step up on anyone Arsenal have played this season]. Technically we have met some good team, but physically they were stronger than many other teams that we have met.
on picking the players up…
A disappointment like that is part of what makes a team grow. I feel that some players, physically, are a bit jaded at the moment and it is a bit down recovering physically.
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