Arsenal boss Wenger laments West Brom ‘nightmare’

Arsene Wenger admits Arsenal had a “nightmare” as his side missed the chance to go top of the Premier League with defeat at West Brom.

The Gunners went down 2-1 at The Hawthorns which means they have slumped down to fourth in the table – behind Leicester, Manchester United and Manchester City.

The Baggies clinched their first home win over the Gunners in 10 years after Santi Cazorla slipped and missed a late penalty.

James Morrison’s volley and a Mikel Arteta own goal gave the hosts – who only managed one shot on target – victory after Olivier Giroud opened the scoring.

Wenger said: “It was a very bad afternoon for us. We had 70 per cent possession, we scored an own goal, we missed a penalty, we gave away a goal from a set-piece, that is perfect to make the afternoon a nightmare.

“We missed open-goal chances. I believe West Brom did fight with 100 per cent commitment as well and you have to give them credit for that.

“At 1-0 we had just to make sure they did not come back with an easy goal and that’s where we were guilty, because apart from that I cannot fault the team who gave what they could until the last minute. We produced enough to win the game.”

The French national anthem La Marseillaise was played before the game in tribute to the victims of the Paris terrorist attacks last week and Wenger believes his French players, Giroud and Laurent Koscielny, were focused.

“Once you are in the competition you are in the competition to be professional. How much did it affect them? I don’t know, I can only speak for myself,” he said.

“When you are on the pitch, you are on the pitch. I would not explain our defeat by that.”

Arteta and Francis Coquelin limped off to add to Arsenal’s injury woes ahead of their must-win Champions League game with Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday.

Mesut Ozil also hit a post as the visitors dominated, but failed to break down the Baggies in the second half.