Wenger drama!

For Arsene Wenger it was one of those days when he wished he had just stayed in bed. Fifty minutes of sumptuous football wiped out by a couple of flicks from the fickle hand of fate. And to cap it all, dismissed in the final seconds for having the temerity to lash out at a stray water bottle as his side were denied an equaliser which would have been the least they deserved.

“I don’t know whether the FA will be in touch, but I am always in touch with the FA,” Wenger joked. It is to the Arsenal manager’s credit that, 45 minutes after watching his side snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at Old Trafford, he was able to laugh at himself, ruefully reflecting on the ludicrousness of it all. “It is beyond belief. We were the better team and we lost the game,” he said. The accurate assessment of a slow-burner of a game between the Premier League’s most enduring rivals could also have been put to at least half a dozen of its key moments. As fate dictated, all but one of them went against Arsenal, so it seems fairly obvious the result would too. It only served to fuel a sense of bitter injustice that Friday’s outburst has done little to soothe. For a long time, Wenger will watch matches, seize on incidents and bemoan a lack of consistency and general unfairness against his team. “UEFA have made the case against Eduardo but now they will have to charge Lionel Messi for headbutting or they will lose credibility,” said Wenger, having watched the Argentinian push his luck in Barcelona’s Super Cup triumph over Shakhtar Donetsk. “Over the weekend I could find them 50 situations where they need to intervene. If they don’t, Eduardo will be singled out and he will be the victim. “I don’t think there is any logic to the case. Look again at what happened. He was touched. We have clear proof.” Indeed, for an example of diving, UEFA need look no further than Emmanuel Eboue, who went down despite Patrice Evra clearly pulling out of a tackle with the midfielder, with whom he did not come close to making contact. The correct punishment, a yellow card, was shown by referee Mike Dean, itself a mockery given Eduardo is now facing up to a two-match European ban. Over the rest there was debate. The penalty Andrey Arshavin was denied. Yes, said Wenger. No countered Ferguson. The one Wayne Rooney got. Yes, said Ferguson. Maybe, said Wenger. “Frankly, I don’t know what to say,” he said. “I kicked the bottle because I was disappointed. I didn’t know you couldn’t do that. It was quite a good kick too. Really spectacular.” There followed a farcical couple of minutes where Wenger climbed out of the back of his dug out and onto the roof of what used to be the dressing rooms a long time ago. The Frenchman stood with arms out wide in exasperation before he was ordered back down and sent towards the current dressing rooms. He got about 10 yards, then the final whistle blew. “Maybe the referee should have just let him sit down,” said Sir Alex Ferguson. The slapstick overshadowed two pivotal moments. Culpable for Arshavin’s blistering opener, Ben Foster redeemed himself two minutes after the restart with a miraculous feet-first save to deny Robin van Persie what surely would have been a match-clinching second for the visitors. Then, after Rooney had levelled, Abou Diaby spoiled an otherwise superb display by heading Ryan Giggs’ free-kick into his own net. “Football is unpredictable,” said Wenger. “I believe in this team but we lack some calmness and maturity when we are in moments where there is no need to panic. “We assessed both goals wrongly. Partly it is a lack of communication and maybe we are missing a little bit of experience in those situations.” The result ended Arsenal’s 100% start to the season, while at the same time emphasised United’s claims on a fourth consecutive title, even if a large portion of their supporters do not share the faith Ferguson has in his present squad. At least Ferguson now has a regular penalty taker again. So used were United to having Cristiano Ronaldo take them, there were a few blank looks when Michael Carrick stepped up at Burnley, and even more when he subsequently missed Nani made it perfectly clear yesterday he was happy to have a go. Rooney was having none of it. “Nobody really knew who our penalty taker was,” said Rooney. “But since Burnley I have said I want to do it and thankfully I scored today.