Everton manager Ronald Koeman mocked Arsene Wenger after the Arsenal boss blamed the referee for his side’s 2-1 defeat at Goodison Park on Tuesday evening.
Wenger believes the corner Ashley Williams headed the winning goal in from in the 86th minute was incorrectly awarded by Mark Clattenburg.
The win was much-needed for Koeman, who was under pressure after a run of five games without a victory, and the Dutchman sees Wenger’s protestations as merely sour grapes.
“I’m not surprised because it’s the third [home game] in a row I won against Arsenal and three times in a row it was about the referee,” he said, as reported by BBC Sport.
“I’m sorry Arsenal, we won through the referee.”
Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring with a deflected free-kick, but Seamus Coleman headed in from Leighton Baines’ cross before Williams’ winner was followed by a second yellow card for Phil Jagielka.
Koeman has enjoyed a good record against Wenger of late, with the Gunners boss without a win in the last four meetings.
The Dutchman’s Southampton side picked up a 2-0 win at St Mary’s in January 2015 before beating Arsenal 4-0 at home on Boxing Day of the same year.
Both Saints wins were followed by Wenger complaints, with a failure to produce a red card in the first and three of the four goals disputed in the other.
Following Tuesday’s defeat at Goodison, Wenger said: “It was not a corner. It was a wrong decision. I am really disappointed because Clattenburg was in a very good position to see that they headed the ball out.
“We have to look at ourselves, we lost the game. We started well and then maybe lost a bit of urgency.”
The defeat was Arsenal’s second of the Premier League season – and their first since the opening day 4-3 reverse to Liverpool.
The Gunners stay third, while Everton’s first win since October 30 moved them up to seventh.
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