ARSENAL MANAGER ARSENE Wenger accepted responsibility for his side’s 6-0 thrashing by Chelsea on Saturday and described it as “one of the worst days” of his career.
The 64-year-old Frenchman was celebrating his 1,000th game as Arsenal manager, but he will remember the Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge for all the wrong reasons.
Goals from Samuel Eto’o, Andre Schurrle, Eden Hazard and Oscar put Chelsea 4-0 up by half-time, with further strikes by Oscar and Mohamed Salah compounding the visitors’ misery.
Arsenal also had Kieran Gibbs mistakenly sent off in the first half, after team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had conceded a penalty for handball, with Hazard scoring Chelsea’s third goal from the spot.
Wenger’s side finished the day seven points adrift of Chelsea in the title race, albeit with a game in hand, and he said that he was prepared to take the blame.
“This defeat is my fault. I take full responsibility for it,” Wenger said.
“I don’t think there’s too much need to talk about the mistakes we made. We got a good hiding today. It’s how we respond now on Tuesday night (against Swansea City) and the best way is not to explain too much the mistakes.”
Asked if it had been one of the worst days of his career, Wenger replied: “Yes, of course it’s one of the worst days. It’s over after 20 minutes and it’s a long game after that.
“You don’t prepare all week to experience that kind of experience. It’s a huge disappointment today, but we want to win the next game now.”
Having spoken to broadcasters after the final whistle, Wenger did not appear for his post-match press conference, with an Arsenal official explaining that the team bus had been about to leave.
Despite seeing his side preserve their lead at the head of the table, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho once again played down their title chances.
Chelsea are the only team in the top four who are also still in contention in the Champions League, but Mourinho dismissed suggestions that the European campaign could prove a distraction.
“We go match after match,” said the Portuguese, whose side were drawn to face French champions Paris Saint-Germain in Friday’s Champions League quarter-final draw.
“We play Crystal Palace next and after that we go to Paris. It’s a different situation to Arsenal. It’s a different situation to Liverpool, and Manchester City are also not in that situation.
“We are happy to be in that situation.”
Asked if Chelsea could win the title, Mourinho told BT Sport: “If they let us.”
