London Football News

Wenger admits Arsenal might have been ‘a bit lucky’

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted his side might have been fortunate after a controversial penalty helped them secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Danny Welbeck scored twice for the Gunners as they beat AC Milan 3-1 in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium and 5-1 on aggregate.

But with Milan 1-0 up on the night after a 30-yard strike from Hakan Calhanoglu,, Welbeck went down very easily under a challenge from Ricardo Rodriguez and converted the resulting penalty.

Wenger told BT Sport: “Maybe looking at the reaction of the Milan players we were a bit lucky there.

“But I must say the positive from the situation is that straight away when we were 1-0 down you could see a response of the team.

“I don’t want to accuse Danny Welbeck of diving before I see the situation. Overall he looked genuine that it is a penalty. I don’t know. I will watch it again.

Wenger’s side were comfortable after the spot-kick.

Milan’s highly-rated goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma allowed Granit Xhaka’s long-range shot to squirm past him and into into the net, before Welbeck’s header sealed the win – and Arsenal’s first European quarter-final for eight years.

Wenger added: “We played against a good side. They haven’t lost for 14 games in the Italian championship and you can see why.”




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