London, August 20 (IANS): Arsenal F.C. chief coach Arene Wenger has blamed the referee’s decision of ruling striker Alexandre Lacazette off-side in his 72nd-minute goal for their 0-1 defeat against Stoke City in an English Premier League (EPL) football game here.
“I think we were unlucky with some decisions from the referee because we scored a regular goal,” the London club coach was quoted as saying by Fox Sports on Saturday.
Further talking about the decision, Wenger explained: “Cent per cent it was onside, I just watched it and it’s not offside at all. Even his foot was not offside but we have to swallow that.
“We should have scored (elsewhere) and it’s just another detail that didn’t go our way. I believe we lost three big points today. In football, when you don’t win games you should win you can only look at yourself.”
The lone goal of the match was scored by Stoke debutant Jese Rodriguez in the 47th minute to help his side clinch three points.
Wenger, who last helped the club clinch the EPL title in 2003-04, also confessed that the team made silly mistakes and failed to defend properly. “I believe it is the kind of night where you are angry, that is because not only did we not score with the number of chances we had, we made stupid mistakes centrally for the goal, first by losing the ball and after by not defending properly,” Wenger said. Wenger helped Arsenal clinch the FA Community Shield earlier in 2017, defeating Chelsea 3-1 on penalties.
