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Wenger - Why we 'suffered' at the start

Arsene Wenger was already unhappy at the scheduling of our game against Bournemouth - and he felt that his side’s first-half display emphasised why.
 
Kick off at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday night was just 50 hours after the final whistle had blown on our previous match, and the Arsenal manager knew that would have an effect.
 
That was shown during a difficult first 70 minutes in which we found ourselves three goals down before mounting a stirring fightback to claim a point.
 
“I thought we suffered defensively,” Wenger told Arsenal Player. “They looked sharper than us at the start. It took us a while to get into the game and you could see they had better recovered than us - that was predictable. 
 
“It’s difficult to say [whether it was down to tiredness]. I could see we were not at our usual level. I believe that we were not on even ground with our opponents, that is for sure, in the preparation of the game. 
 
“We were a bit unlucky as well, I think penalty or not a penalty… after on the third goal we were unlucky again. But we have to cope with it and I think we responded very well.
 
“I felt that it was a mental test for us to fight back. We have shown an outstanding fighting spirit to come back and it shows great resilience and a refusal to lose the game - that is quite positive.”
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