Wenger: Exasperated
In terms of the decisions going against us, this is the worst I've seen in my 11 years at Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger.
Quotes of the week
Arsene Wenger claims Arsenal have been on the end of the worst refereeing decisions he has ever experienced in his time with the Gunners.
The North London club crashed out of the UEFA Champions League in midweek as contentious penalty decisions went against them in both legs of their quarter-final clash with Liverpool.
First, Alexander Hleb was denied a spot-kick at Emirates Stadium when he was pulled back by Dirk Kuyt, before Kolo Toure was harshly penalised for his challenge Ryan Babel late in the second leg at Anfield.
The Gunners have fallen off the Premier League title pace in recent weeks and are six points adrift of Manchester United ahead of their trip to Old Trafford on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 1.
Wenger remains perplexed by the decisions which have gone against his team and insists it has hit the confidence of his players.
The Frenchman said: "It has been a very difficult week - the hardest of the season.
"In terms of the decisions going against us, this is the worst I've seen in my 11 years at Arsenal.
"This team has been punished in the last seven weeks more than any team I have seen in England since I arrived here.
"Every single decision has gone against this team in every single game recently.
"It is the big decision in every game and I don't know why that is.
"It damages the confidence of the team and then you become more vulnerable. It is difficult to understand.
"I don't want to make a big fuss of the refereeing decisions because I cannot change that and I do not want to focus on that.
"I want to focus on what I can improve, but the least you can say that it has not helped us.
"It's a big disappointment because we had the room to go through - easy, easy - against Liverpool."
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Saturday 15th August | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Aston Villa vs Wigan |
| 15:00 | Blackburn vs Man City |
| 15:00 | Bolton vs Sunderland |
| 15:00 | Chelsea vs Hull |
| 15:00 | Everton vs Arsenal |
| 15:00 | Man Utd vs Birmingham |
| 15:00 | Portsmouth vs Fulham |
| 15:00 | Stoke vs Burnley |
| 15:00 | Tottenham vs Liverpool |
| 15:00 | Wolverhampton vs West Ham |
| Tuesday 18th August | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Birmingham vs Portsmouth |
| 19:45 | Burnley vs Man Utd |
| 19:45 | Fulham vs Blackburn |
| 19:45 | Hull vs Tottenham |
| 19:45 | Sunderland vs Chelsea |
| 19:45 | Wigan vs Wolverhampton |
| Wednesday 19th August | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Liverpool vs Stoke |
| Saturday 22nd August | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Portsmouth |
| 15:00 | Birmingham vs Stoke |
| 15:00 | Burnley vs Everton |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 24th May | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 1 - 0 Newcastle | |
| Blackburn 0 - 0 West Brom | |
| Hull 0 - 1 Man Utd | |
| Man City 1 - 0 Bolton | |
| Sunderland 2 - 3 Chelsea | |
| Fulham 0 - 2 Everton | |
| Arsenal 4 - 1 Stoke | |
| West Ham 2 - 1 Middlesbrough | |
| Wigan 1 - 0 Portsmouth | |
| Liverpool 3 - 1 Tottenham | |
| Monday 18th May | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Portsmouth 3 - 1 Sunderland | |
| Sunday 17th May | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Chelsea 2 - 0 Blackburn | |
| West Brom 0 - 2 Liverpool | |
| Saturday 16th May | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Newcastle 0 - 1 Fulham | |
| Bolton 1 - 1 Hull | |
| Stoke 2 - 0 Wigan | |
| Middlesbrough 1 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Tottenham 2 - 1 Man City | |
| Everton 3 - 1 West Ham | |
| Man Utd 0 - 0 Arsenal | |
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