West Bromwich, United Kingdom: Arsene Wenger described Arsenal's 2-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion as the "perfect nightmare" after midfielders Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta added to his injury problems.
Arteta's own goal, coupled with a late penalty miss by Santi Cazorla, ended the Gunners' six-match unbeaten Premier League run and dented their title challenge.
And Gunners boss Wenger, already without Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck, suffered further setbacks as he lost Coquelin to a knee problem and Arteta to a recurrence of a calf injury.
Both players will be assessed and are doubts for Tuesday's Champions League home match against Dinamo Zagreb, which Arsenal must win to stand any chance of staying in the competition.
"It was a very bad afternoon for us. We had 70 per cent possession, we scored an own goal, we missed a penalty, we gave away a goal from a set piece. That's perfect to make the afternoon a nightmare," Wenger said.
"We missed open goal chances too. I believe that West Brom fought with 100 per cent commitment as well. You have to give them credit for that.
"We landed a huge blow when we scored. We just had to make sure that they didn't come back with an easy goal.
"We lost a bit of focus at 1-0. After 35 minutes, we were 1-0 up. After 45 minutes, we were 2-1 down. Our defending on that level was very, very poor.
"On top of that, we have two more injuries. One is a recurrence of a calf problem for Arteta, one is a knee problem for Coquelin. I don't know how severe that is. We'll know tomorrow (Sunday)."
Wenger refused to blame Cazorla for his missed penalty, which came amid confusion, as it initially appeared as though referee Mark Clattenburg had ordered a retake for encroachment.
As it turned out, Clattenburg had penalised the midfielder for taking two touches as he slipped; with the rules not allowing a penalty taker to touch the ball again until another player has done so.
AFP
