Wenger rues Arsenal defending and over-confidence

Arsene Wenger rued Arsenal’s defending, possible over-confidence and the injuries suffered by Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta in Saturday’s defeat at West Brom.

Olivier Giroud headed Arsenal into a lead which could have seen them top the Premier League table, but goals from James Morrison and an own goal from Mikel Arteta condemned the Gunners to a 2-1 defeat at The Hawthorns.

Santi Cazorla missed a late penalty, but potentially more damaging were the injuries suffered by Coquelin and his replacement on the day, Arteta.

On the performance, Wenger said: “It was a huge goal when we scored and then you just make sure they do not come back with an easy goal.

“We were 1-0 up in the 28th minute and then 2-1 down before the 45th, so our defending on that level was very, very poor.”

Speaking to the BBC, Wenger added: “We did give everything until the end. Maybe we were a bit too sure of ourselves.”

Wenger says the injury suffered by Coquelin is “more severe” than that of Arteta, but Arsenal must wait for the results of scans to determine the full extent of damage.

“We have two more injuries,” Wenger said. “One is a muscle problem for Arteta and the other one is a knee problem and I don’t know how serious that is but we will know certainly tomorrow, for Coquelin.

“Arteta is a calf,” Wenger added.