Wenger left bemused and frustrated with referee Atkinson’s decisions

Arsene Wenger insisted his Arsenal side were the victims of a pair of incorrect decisions that allowed Chelsea to establish a two-goal lead inside 16 minutes on their way to victory at Stamford Bridge.

Wenger claimed referee Martin Atkinson failed to penalise a Ramires foul on Francis Coquelin in the build-up to Juan Mata’s opening goal and then mistakenly awarded a penalty when Ramires went to ground under a challenge from Wojciech Szczesny, allowing Frank Lampard to add the second from the penalty spot. “I don’t understand,” said Wenger. “When you look, the referee gave a lot of free-kicks today, and some much less than the Coquelin one. It’s frustrating. It doesn’t mean we should have conceded the goal, but in the big games these decisions have big implications.”

And asked about the penalty decision, he added: “I didn’t see it well from the bench but people have seen it on television and say it was not a penalty. If it is not penalty the guy had to go down not making contact, I don’t know. I’ve heard it doesn’t look like a penalty on TV.”