Arsenal Boss Arsene Wenger Believes His Side Were 'Punished' For Losing Concentration In Loss To Shakhtar Donetsk

Wenger.. frustated

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes that his side were "punished" for their poor concentration as they were beaten in the Champions League 2-1 by Shakhtar Donetsk.

Theo Walcott had given the Gunners the lead, but an own goal from Craig Eastmond and a strike from former frontman Eduardo saw them miss the chance to qualify from the group stages, and Wenger admitted that his side lost concentration after they took the lead.

“We had a good start and after we became too easy, and then we were punished, against a good team you are punished,” Wenger told Sky Sports.

“It’s a good lesson for us tonight because we thought we’d get through without putting 100 per cent focus on every defensive situation and then in the second half we gave a lot to come back into the game but we were a bit unlucky in the finishing and they were intelligent as well and that explains after that it was difficult to come back.

“We had the chances but we couldn’t take them. Overall, I believe we have learned that even if you give a lot, if you are not focussed for 90 minutes  you don’t win at that level.

“We were 1-0 up and comfortable and slowly we dropped our urgency and we were punished because they have good players, and you see that especially on the crosses, nobody attacks the ball and they created chances from that.”

Wenger was questioned about whether Gael Clichy was to blame for Shakhtar’s second goal, but the Frenchman didn’t give much away.

“I don’t know if it was a lack of focus but he was first on the ball, it’s difficult to explain. I haven’t talked to him about it yet.”

The Gunners boss also said that he thought his side were unlucky in the run up to Shakhtar’s first goal, but still criticised his team for failing to deal with the free-kick.

“Yes, but that’s a decision for the referee. We still have to deal better with the free-kick.”

Theo Walcott’s first half goal was one of the few positives for the Gunners, but Wenger seemed unimpressed by the move, instead insisting that none of his players played well tonight.

“Well I don’t want to speak about any individual performance because nobody was individually outstanding tonight.”

Even when he was pushed about the quality of the goal, the Frenchman remained downbeat.

“It was a good goal, but we play to win the games, you know.”

Wenger also emphasised that the loss represented a missed chance to qualify for the next stage and criticised his side’s lack of maturity for surrendering their first half lead.

“It is a missed opportunity of course. Especially if we get away with a draw we are there nearly. So the most difficult thing in a game is to score the first goal, what we did, and then I believe it’s a lack of maturity not to focus 100% to make sure. We are caught just before half-time and then you give a lot, but it’s just the story of the game. It’s just, it’s football.”

When questioned as to whether previous poor results in the Ukraine had led to his side going into the clash with a mental disadvantage, the Frenchman dismissed the idea, instead insisting that it was a lack of concentration that saw them come up short.

“No you don’t play with memory, you play with the performance of the day and we had 20 minutes today where we were not completely sharp and we were punished.”