Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that Wednesday’s 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich was “strange” considering his sides' first half performance.
First half false hope
The Gunners’ returned to the pitch for the second half with the score at 1-1, thanks to Alexis Sanchez’ cool finish that cancelled out a stunning long range shot from Bayern winger Arjen Robben.
Two early goals in the second half however killed the London side off as Bayern became rampant.
“We had some good chances just before half-time,” Wenger said in his press conference after the game.
“After, we got a few blows - the first to Koscielny, and then we conceded two goals in minutes 53 and 56.”
Just after the French centre back was replace by Gabriel, Robert Lewandoski headed home a Phillip Lahm cross to give Bayern the lead, before stunning team move meant the ball fell to Thiago, who slotted past David Ospina from close range.
Wenger felt that the third goal from Thiago hit his team hard.
“We lost our organisation and we looked mentally very jaded. From that moment on, the last 25 minutes were a nightmare for us because we looked like we had no response.
“We lost out organisation, we lost our centre back. But after the third one it was a combination of (mentality) and organisation. Before that, we controlled them quite well.”
Overall however, the Arsenal manager conceded the German’s were just too strong.
“Overall I must say they are a better team than us, they played very well in the second half and we dropped our level. We were a but unlucky we dropped our level and they were better than us.”
The big games keep coming
Next up for the gunners’ is another huge match, this time in the FA Cup, as they travel to Ganders Green Lane to play non-league Sutton United in the fifth round.