Chelsea striker Drogba was diving again, claims Arsenal boss Wenger

11 May 2009 02:52
Arsene Wenger last night claimed that Didier Drogba dived to win the free-kick which led to Chelsea's opening goal at The Emirates, but also had to admit his side only had themselves to blame for their heaviest home league defeat in 32 years. Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas was deemed to have fouled Drogba in the 27th minute and was booked by referee Phil Dowd for complaining and making a diving gesture. The Ivory Coast striker, having made the most of the contact, got to his feet to deliver the free-kick which Alex headed home. Asked directly if it was a dive, Wenger replied: 'It was. We live in a league now where the divers are rewarded. It is not right, but it is like that. It's down to the referee to do his job. I don't think the free-kick should have been given, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't win the header after that. 'The referee will make some decisions for you or against you, but we should still have cleared the ball from the cross.' Chelsea went further ahead through Nicolas Anelka's sweet strike and an own goal from Kolo Toure. Arsenal substitute Nicklas Bendtner briefly raised hopes of a comeback with a 70th-minute header but Chelsea sealed the win they deserved four minutes from time through Florent Malouda.   Wenger said: 'You can be very positive or very negative. It's a major disappointment to lose 4-1, but going forward we had a very interesting game and created plenty of chances. It was not a 4-1 game. 'We should have been 2-0 up before they scored. We made a mistake and were one down, but we missed seven or eight clear-cut chances and every mistake we made was punished because we were playing a team of quality. 'In the games that mattered in the last three or four weeks, we couldn't win. That's what we have to analyse.' Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink, delighted by the way his side had bounced back from the pain of their Champions League exit to Barcelona, said: 'That showed thisteam is one of the strongest in Europe. That was a great reaction and I'm proud of them. 'We started with a kind of hangover from Wednesday and gave them the chance to play their beautiful game. But the reaction of the team was great. We said we wanted the same dominance and control, which happened. I can be very proud of the team after what has happened. 'I felt the injustice, not being in the European Cup final. It's along time since Chelsea have had such a big victory against Arsenal.' Insisting he had no qualms about starting with Drogba, despite the threat of a heavy UEFA sanction hanging over the forward for abusing Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo, Hiddink said: 'The big issue was whether his conduct and behaviour was against the team's interests it wasn't. 'We told him everyone would be focused on him, so he had to play the simple game. He put in the free-kick for Alex's beautiful header and he did not react to any challenges.' Chelsea's win secured third spot in the Barclays Premier League and their place in the group stages of the Champions League. Arsenal, by contrast, must begin another journey in Europe's elite competition with a two-legged play-off game in late August after their semi-final drubbing last Tuesday by Manchester United.

Source: Daily_Mail