Tottenham Hotspur maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season.
Arsene Wenger has suggested that Tottenham Hotspur star Victor Wanyama was very fortunate not to receive a red card during the North London derby following a clash with Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, The Guardian reports.
The Kenyan clashed with the Gunners forward on a couple of occasions during the latter stages of the first-half, but avoided being booked by referee Mark Clattenburg.
Arsenal’s Theo Walcott clashes with Tottenham’s Victor Wanyama
And after the match, Wenger suggested that Mauricio Pochettino’s men should have gone down to 10 men following the incidents.
“He was very lucky to stay on the pitch, of course,” he said, as reported by The Guardian.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
“There were a few fouls, the elbow on Walcott for example. But the referee makes the decisions and we have to cope with that. Nobody stopped us scoring a second goal [but ourselves].”
Wenger’s frustration may perhaps be based around the fact that the incidents came shortly before the break, while Harry Kane’s equaliser for Tottenham came just six minutes after the interval.
Tottenham’s Victor Wanyama in action with Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka
While going down to 10 men can sometimes galvanise a team and perhaps even make them stronger than when they had 11 on the pitch, it is surely fair to say that had Wanyama been dismissed, Tottenham’s task of coming from behind would have been much tougher.
The holding midfielder has already established himself as a key man for Spurs, and his presence undoubtedly makes them much more difficult to break down.
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