Arsene Wenger has accused Manchester United of using ‘anti-football’ tactics during Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The Frenchman said deliberate fouling was more harmful to the game than the alleged dive by Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva which is being investigated by UEFA. “I have seen a player who plays on the pitch only to make fouls. For me, this is a point that is more urgent than diving,” British media reported Wenger as saying.
Eduardo was scrutinised after last week’s Champions League qualifying victory over Celtic, having allegedly dived to win a penalty which he then scored to set up a 3-1 Arsenal victory. “The players who are never punished, who get out of the game without a yellow card. I think it is more anti-football than a player who did what Eduardo did,” Wenger said.
United inflicted a first defeat of the season on Wenger’s side after two second-half goals cancelled out Andrei Arshavin’s strike. In a competitive match, six yellow cards were shown to Arsenal players and three to United. The game ended with Wenger being dismissed from the touchline for kicking a water bottle, a decision the Premier League referees’ body later acknowledged was an error. Wenger is to receive an apology.
“Look at how many deliberate fouls some players get away with. That’s a bigger problem because it cuts the flow of the game. And people pay to see football, not free kicks.” Asked if he was referring to Fletcher, Wenger just laughed and said: “Why do you say the name?” Fletcher, though, insisted he had done nothing wrong.
