Wenger frustrated by cup draw

Wenger frustrated by cup draw

Published Feb. 20, 2011 8:38 p.m. ET

Arsene Wenger admitted a sense of frustration that Arsenal failed to kill off Leyton Orient after the League One side snatched a 1-1 draw.

The Gunners made 10 changes from the side which had beaten Barcelona in midweek, but lacked a cutting edge in attack before they eventually made the breakthrough when Tomas Rosicky headed in at the start of the second half.

However, Orient produced a late rally and substitute Jonathan Tehoue drilled home with a minute left to earn a money-spinning replay which keeps alive the dream of a quarter-final at Manchester United.

With an already congested fixture list - which includes next Sunday's Carling Cup final against Birmingham at Wembley - the last thing Wenger will have wanted was a replay - set for March 2 - just a week before they head out to Spain for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 clash.

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"We have played the game with the right attitude and could not fault our fighting spirit, but you also have to give credit to Leyton Orient because they never gave up and fought very hard," Wenger said.

"As long as you do not score the second goal, that can happen.

"Overall it is a disappointment, but we are still in the competition and will now play at home.

"The most important thing is to go through.

"You had a match against a team which is technically superior, but fighting spirit has a chance."

Wenger, though, added: "The most negative side of our result today is one more fixture and in fairness that is not what we needed.

"We have had problems in the cups against teams from the lower divisions to finish them off, but also we have given a lot.

"Sometimes, mentally, a breather would not be bad.

"What people forget is that since the beginning of December, we have played every three days, so sometimes to have a week where we could give the players a little breather would not be bad."

Yet Wenger did not begrudge Orient their big night at the Emirates.

He said: "It will make their budget for the season, if not more, and to scrap that off would be a blow to all the smaller clubs in England.

"They suffer already, so you would not have a lot of supporters to do that (scrap replays)."

Orient boss Russell Slade was delighted with the result and his substitutions.

He said: "We didn't play our best football and I was disappointed we kept turning the ball over.

"I thought we were going to lose with a bit of dignity but the equaliser was reward not just for today. That's our seventh game in the FA Cup, we nearly went out in the first round, but to hang in there...it's the same in the league, it's one defeat in 21. You have to be happy with that."

As for his introduction of Tehoue, he added: "I just said to myself 'gaffer, you have got the substitution right again'."

"We have got four, five, six players on the bench who can make a difference.

"Tehoue hasn't scored a goal before the 85th minute and he has got eight or nine now."

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