Wenger reckons Fernandinho should have also been sent off for ‘provoking’ Angel di Maria in the second leg of the Champions League semifinal.
Follow Us
Not one to mince his words, Arsene Wenger has blasted Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho for his role in Angel di Maria’s sending off. The former Arsenal manager reckoned that the Brazilian midfielder’s behaviour was “provocative”. It all began with a well-drilled Man City side outsmarting the star-studded Paris Saint-Germain team 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night. The 4-1 aggregate victory sent Pep Guardiola’s boys into their maiden Champions League final.
Riyad Mahrez was the hero for the hosts as he scored a goal in each half to help the Premier League leaders knock out the French champions. A major talking point came in the second half when the Argentinian attacker di Maria was sent off by the referee. The red card more or less prevented any hope of a miraculous comeback by the visiting team. Wenger is of the opinion that Fernandinho should have also been shown a red.
“I have to say I don’t like how Fernandinho behaved tonight. It’s provocative. If you send Di Maria off, you have to send Fernandinho off as well, for me,” he told beIN Sports. “He should already have had a yellow card and then he was provoking Di Maria. They both should have been off.”
PSG had lost the first leg 1-2 in Paris last week. With a mountain to climb, the French side was outdone by two goals from Mahrez. “Overall, Manchester City had less weaknesses than PSG,” Wenger added. “You could say that PSG tonight played well, they showed top quality in some aspects of their game, but they were caught twice by counter-attacks.”
Analysing PSG’s team, Wenger felt that the French champions need to improve their defence going forward. “Overall, I would say that for them now it’s important to analyse where they can improve, and it’s at the back,” he said.
“The defence, at the moment, is not good enough to win the Champions League. They have enormous potential, but this is where they need to fix it. They also need to become more calm and focused.”
“They also need to become more calm and concentrated. We cannot ignore that they finished both games with ten men. So it’s repeated as well. They need to improve their discipline when things don’t go well.”
