Penalty foul-up was a mess, says Wenger

ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger has again expressed his annoyance over the penalty foul-up which marred their 1-0 Premiership win over Manchester City on Saturday.

French duo Robert Pires and Thierry Henry “decided to try something a bit different” in the Highbury tie. Pires, who had scored one penalty, tried to set up Henry with his second spot-kick but scuffed the pass and conceded a free-kick instead.

“They wanted to play the ball together between two players and, in fairness, it should have been retaken as Robert did not touch the ball twice. Having said that, it was a mess. Even if you are 10-0 up, you want to play the game in the way it should be played. They thought it was a good way to score the goal. I don’t think they made the right decision, that is all.

“You do a lot of things in training for fun and it was not planned to take the penalty like that. It was not meant to be disrespectful to anyone, they just wanted to score the goal and finish the game,” said Wenger.

“Robert came to me after the game, telling me he was sorry and that he had made a big mistake. As a manager, you have to live with these things.

“Maybe if Robert had missed the first penalty, you could have understood had he tried to pass the ball, as he would have been shaky. But he should have been full of confidence after smashing in the first penalty so marvellously.”

Meanwhile, Henry warned fans not to expect too much from Arsenal’s youngsters in the Carling Cup clash at Sunderland tonight.

Wenger is likely to make significant changes to his starting eleven, with Arturo Lupoli, 18, Quincy Owusu Abeyie, 19, and Sebastian Larsson, 19, all in line to figure.

Top scorer, Henry, is virtually certain to be rested, but the 28-year-old praised the contribution of the club’s youngsters this season.

“You don’t have a lot of players who arrive at 17 and are successful instantly. They have one or two years where they struggle as it’s difficult to handle,” the French striker said.