Source: Telegraph
Arsène Wenger admits Arsenal's penalty against Celtic was undeserved but defends Eduardo
Having recently admitted to selective myopia in the past, there was no pretence from Wenger that he had not seen Wednesday night's moment of controversy and he conceded that it should not have been a penalty.
However, although Eduardo went down following only minimal contact, Wenger suspected that his player could simply have been trying to avoid the full potential impact of the challenge.
"Having seen it again on television, it doesn't look to be a penalty," said Wenger. "I believe really that it was not a penalty but I'm not sure that the keeper didn't touch him with his right knee.
"With what happened to him [Eduardo], I am a bit cautious. He might have jumped out of the way as well. I don't think he would have complained if the penalty was not given but did he want to get out of the way of the keeper? I have to ask him.
"I never asked in my life any guy to dive to win a penalty but sometimes the players go down because there is no other way to escape the tackling of the keeper. Sometimes they dive.
"I do not want a penalty which is not a penalty, but I do not go as far to say Eduardo dived. He went down, for what reason I do not know."
Wenger also pointed to Arsenal's previous Champions League misfortune in their match against Liverpool in 2008. "We got a penalty two years ago in the quarter-final of the Champions League that made the difference when [Ryan] Babel dived nobody ever apologised to us," said Wenger.
Boruc was clearly furious both with Eduardo's reaction and the decision of referee Manuel Gonzalez. "All the boys thought there was no contact, but we have to accept it," said Celtic manager Tony Mowbray. "The first goal was always going to be crucial."
Centre-back Glenn Loovens said: "You can see from the reaction of the boys, they were close to it and, if it stays 0-0, you stay in the game. I don't think it is really fair."
The debate over the penalty, however, could not mask Arsenal's dominance over the two legs and their attention now turns to the match against Manchester United on Saturday. Having started the season with four consecutive wins and 15 goals, Wenger agreed that his team would enter the match with real belief.
"Now there is a little wave of optimism again because our team has started well and the fans are a bit more optimistic," he said. "I'm happy to go there because it is the first big, big test. We have the necessary confidence.
"You want always to have a high level of confidence when you go to Old Trafford we have that at the moment. For us it is most important to recover physically because Man United didn't play in the League Cup."
Arsenal, though, are almost certain to be without captain Cesc Fàbregas and they are also awaiting further news on a knee injury to Aaron Ramsey.
