Wenger admits Arsenal were fortunate with late penalty decision

Arsene Wenger admitted the Gunners were fortunate with a late penalty decision, as Arsenal beat Burnley in dramatic fashion at the Emirates.

With their Premier League title-rivals dropping points on Saturday, the Gunners had a fantastic chance to close the gap against Sean Dyche’s men, looking to build on their convincing 4-0 win at Swansea City last weekend. However Burnley proved a tougher test than expected at the Emirates,frustrating the home side for long periods.

Arsenal finally made the breakthrough in the 59th minute through Shkodran Mustafi, but five minutes later the game was turned on its head, as Granit Xhaka received his second red card of the campaign. Burnley eventually capitalised on that advantage in stoppage-time, sparking a dramatic finish to the clash.

The Clarets won a penalty when Francis Coquelin fouled Ashley Barnes in the 93rd minute, provoking a furious reaction from Wenger on the sidelines. Andre Gray tucked away the spot-kick while the Arsenal boss was sent to the stands, pushing the fourth official along the way.

However the Gunners earned a controversial penalty of their own in the 98th minute, as the seemingly offside Laurent Koscielny was kicked in the face by Ben Mee, opening the door for Alexis Sanchez to score the winner.

“My view is that honestly I did not see that it was a penalty,” Wenger told Sky Sports post-match. “I will have to WATCH it on the video. Francis told me that he ran into him.

“What it was is that we kept going, we are a relentless team. Burnley made it very uncomfortable for us. On television it looked a penalty. Yeah, the only thing Koscielny came out again before he kicked the ball, was it a fraction of a 1000th of a second offside? I don’t know.”

Arsenal have scored 50 goals and conceded 23 in their 22 Premier League fixtures this season, with a shot accuracy of 48%, as they sit second on 47 points, eight behind leaders Chelsea.

Next up for them is an away clash at Southampton in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, before taking on Watford at the Emirates.