Francis Coquelin confronts angry Arsenal fans after Gunners labour to bore draw at home to Red Star Belgrade
ARSENE WENGER shrugged off the Emirates frustration as Francis Coquelin argued with an angry fan.
Midfielder Coquelin confronted the supporter as Arsenal were booed off despite securing qualification for the last 32 of the Europa League.
It was Arsenal’s first goalless draw at home in Europe in six years and Wenger admitted: “People are not used to seeing no goals at the Emirates and it’s frustrating for us that we didn’t score.
“I didn’t see what happened with Coquelin because I went down the tunnel straight after the final whistle but it is part of the learning process for the young players to be part of these kind of games.
“We have ten points from four games and we want to compete in every competition so we will continue with the rotation policy which has served us well so far.”
Yet as much as Wenger tried to dress this up as an important result, there can be no getting away from the fact that this was very much a case of after the Lord Mayor’s Show for Arsenal.
The Emirates might be little more than ten miles from Spurs’ temporary Wembley home, but in terms of European occasion it is light years away right now after their neighbours’ magnificent win against Real Madrid the previous night.
And it probably doesn’t help when every one of the players involved last night knew they have no chance of starting Sunday’s crucial Premier League visit to Manchester City.
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Even Jack Wilshere, so impressive in the earlier away victories in Borisov and Belgrade, was struggling to get himself going for this one.
Maybe it was down to the disappointment of being omitted from the latest England squad and the knowledge that he is not going to figure in Gareth Southgate’s plans until he is playing regular Premier League football again.
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Not that he was the only Arsenal player making hard work of it against the Serbian Super League leaders.
Olivier Giroud could have fired them into an early lead but saw his first-time shot blocked by the outstretched leg of keeper Milan Borjan and was foiled again when forced wide by Joe Willock’s heavy pass.
But it was the visitors who finished the first-half stronger, with rookie keeper Matt Macey needing every centimetre of his giant frame to tip Vujadin Savic’s 36th minute header against the bar.
Wilshere had two penalty appeals rejected on the hour when he went down under Savic’s challenge before the big defender appeared to handle in the area seconds later.
And he was denied his first Arsenal goal in two and half years when his 65th minute flick was acrobatically cleared of the line by Damien Le Tallec.
In the end it was all made academic by Borisov’s 5-2 defeat in Cologne which means Arsenal are now safely through to the knockout stages.
Not that too many at the empty Emirates will be bothered.
