After Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Hull City, Arsene Wenger was unhappy with Alexis Sanchez’s missed penalty with Santi Cazorla still on the pitch.
Arsenal returned to domestic duties on Saturday facing a stout Hull City side looking to build on a surprisingly positive start to their Premier League campaign. However, the Gunners were heavily fancied over the newly promoted side and their greater quality shone through in what was, eventually, a relatively comfortable 4-1 victory.
It was an impressive performance from the Gunners, especially from the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Alex Iwobi and Theo Walcott, whose pace and movement in attacking areas cause a whole host of problems for the Hull back line. Sanchez grabbed two goals with Theo adding to his opening weekend striker against Liverpool, and a late screamer from Granit Xhaka secured the three points. However, the greatest piece of drama in the 90 minutes, was not any of the five goals scored, but rather, the lack of a goal.
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When a Francis Coquelin strike struck the arm of Jake Livermore, blocking its path to goal resulting in referee Roger East pointing to the spot and flashing the bright red to the dismay of the Hull centre-half, it was expected that Santi Cazorla would step home and put Arsenal two up before the break.
That, though, did not quite play out as expected. Alexis Sanchez, the self-appointed penalty taker, stepped up, hit a woeful penalty, low to the left of Jakupovic who made a good save to the palm the ball away. It was nowhere near the bottom corner, the assumed aim of Sanchez, and has since lead to a rather spirited fall out since the final whistle.
OH Nooo ! A missed a penalty. Sanchez shot saved. 1st Half Hull City – 0 Arsenal – 1. #HCFCvAFC #afc #Arsenalnews pic.twitter.com/G60ONNIaqd
— TheGaffa (@Gaffa100) September 17, 2016
In his post-match interview, Arsene Wenger was visibly angry with Sanchez, rather than Cazorla, taking the penalty, stating of the incident:
“Santi was down to take it, I don’t know why it did not happen, they have a pecking order, it was not planned for Sanchez to take it. I want to know what happened and for it not to happen again. Overall anyone can miss a penalty, we have to accept that.”
Wenger is rarely so publicly critical of his players, especially a logistical issue such as who is set to take a penalty. It is dumbfounding as to why Cazorla did not take the spot kick but it does raise questions about what is often seen as a harmonious squad.
Is Sanchez displaying an arrogance and self-entitlement that does not fit in with the general feeling of the squad? Is Cazorla not, as one of the more experienced players in the squad, standing up for his role in the team? These are questions that will be answered over the coming weeks, but it is a very confusing and chaotic scenario.
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