Man United 8 Arsenal 2: Wenger humiliated after “˜painful’ day
Dejected Arsenal boss "humiliated" after resounding defeat by the defending champions at Old Trafford
Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger had no choice but to accept his side had been utterly humiliated after a rampant Manchester United smashed eight goals past the Gunners to pile more misery on the Londoners.
A Wayne Rooney hat-trick, a brace from Ashley Young and strikes from Danny Welbeck, Nani and Park Ji-Sung consigned Wenger’s men to their heaviest league defeat under the Frenchman.
Theo Walcott had pulled a goal back for the Gunners before the break and Robin van Persie lashed home with 15 minutes left, but the Arsenal manager could only watch on in horror as his team capitulated at Old Trafford.
“It is terribly painful,” said Wenger, whose side were reduced to 10-men for the third successive league game when defender Carl Jenkinson was shown a second yellow card with the score at 6-2.
“Of course it hurts, it’s humiliating, but you could see that we had not recovered physically in the second half from Wednesday night.
“We were short in some areas, that is for sure. They have class and they punished us. It was 3-1 at half-time and I think that was harsh against us.
“We tried desperately to get back but we opened ourselves up and were punished. Their finishing was great today.”
Wenger moved to try and reassure Arsenal fans that will look to re-enforce his squad before the transfer window closes on Wednesday night.
A deal for Monaco striker Park Chu-Young appears to be close, but the Frenchman says the Gunners still need to bolster their defence and midfield.
“I am very open if we can find the right players,” he said. “We have the money to sign players. If we find players who can strengthen our team then we will do it.
“But I am not the only one to work on the case, we have 20 people who are working on that. If we do not do it, it is because we don’t find them.
“We are close to signing a striker at the moment but we are still looking for a midfielder and a defender.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his surprise at the final score, adding that criticism of his Arsenal counterpart is “unfair”.
“It is a surprise because when you play Arsenal you expect a difficult game,” said Ferguson. “If you look at Arsenal the team is weakened ““ but we still did the job.
“We got careless at times and they made chances because they still have quality up front But overall we are very satisfied that we kept the performance levels up.”
He added: “I think it is unfair to criticise him [Wenger]. The job he’s done for Arsenal and the philosophy he has ““ he has given Arsenal some very entertaining players.
“He’s also sold well and looked after the Arsenal coffers. People forget these things. It’s a cynical world now and when you lose a few games the judges come out.”
