Arsenal boss Wenger hails ‘80% domination’ – in loss to United

The Frenchman rues his side’s missed chances and defensive naivety after they fell to a 2-1 Premier League defeat by Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claimed that his side “dominated 80 per cent” of their 2-1 home defeat by Manchester United that marked the north London club’s worst start to a season since 1982.

An own goal from Kieran Gibbs and a dinked finish from Wayne Rooney put United two goals ahead before Olivier Giroud grabbed a goal back in a game that ended with vocal boos from the home crowd.

Arsenal are already 15 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea and sit eighth in the Premier League table, having made their worst start to a league campaign in 32 years, but Wenger was left grasping for positives and rued several missed chances in the first-half.

“It’s a game that we dominated for 80% of the time,” he told reporters. “We have not had many games against Man United like today but we were not efficient enough in the final third and made mistakes at the back.

“Their keeper [David de Gea] is man of the match and that’s the story of the game. We had plenty of opportunities to finish the game off.

“When we were 1-0 down we had a lot of possession in the final third. We missed a lot of opportunities but you have to be efficient in a top-level game.

“We are very disappointed. There is a discordance between our possession and chances and our results.”

Wenger, who was unsure of the severity of the ankle injury that forced off Jack Wilshere, was particularly frustrated with the sequence that led to Rooney racing through on goal to clip home United’s second.

He added: “Defensively we were a bit naive. We were not cautious enough.

“I don’t know why we had two against one at the back in our own half. You will get punished by these players.”