Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger stood by his
decision to play David Ospina and rest Petr
Cech after the Colombian goalkeeper's error
contributed to his team's shocking 3-2 home
Champions League defeat to Olympiakos on
Tuesday.
The Premier League side were behind against
the run of play on 32 minutes when a low shot
from Felipe Pardo deflected off Alex Oxlade-
Chamberlain, though Theo Walcott netted a
quick equaliser.
Replacement goalkeeper Ospina then made a catastrophic mistake for the Greeks' second goal, inexplicably patting Kostas Fortounis's corner down behind his own line. Arsenal recovered with an equaliser through Alexis Sanchez, though substitute Alfred Finnbogason quickly responded to give the Greeks a first win in England at the 13th attempt. "Ospina played 19 games last year, kept 14 clean sheets," Wenger said in his postgame news conference. "Last week at Tottenham he had a fantastic game. No keeper is mistake- free. It could have happened to Petr Cech as well." Wenger explained why he left sole summer signing Cech out, saying: "He had a slight alert before the game at Leicester [on Saturday]. It's not because of that that we lost the game. I make those decisions and the selections for the team and I am responsible for it. "You cannot select the team by making a poll before the game and taking everybody's opinion." Wenger, who maintains that Arsenal can still reach the next round, said the blame for the defeat should be shared rather than single out his Colombian goalkeeper. "There was a bit of bad luck as well," he said. "They had four shots on target and scored three goals. "That happens once every 100 games in the Champions League. But we feel guilty because we gave easy goals away." Aaron Ramsey and Nacho Monreal were also omitted in favour of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs, but Wenger again defended his selection. "You cannot play every three days without rotating your players," he said. "We played with [Santi] Cazorla, [Francis] Coquelin and [Mesut] Ozil in midfield. They play together six months. That's the team that plays always." Wenger confirmed that centre-back Laurent Koscielny had to be replaced due to injury in the second half, adding: "A hamstring [problem]. We play many games and that's why we rotate."
Replacement goalkeeper Ospina then made a catastrophic mistake for the Greeks' second goal, inexplicably patting Kostas Fortounis's corner down behind his own line. Arsenal recovered with an equaliser through Alexis Sanchez, though substitute Alfred Finnbogason quickly responded to give the Greeks a first win in England at the 13th attempt. "Ospina played 19 games last year, kept 14 clean sheets," Wenger said in his postgame news conference. "Last week at Tottenham he had a fantastic game. No keeper is mistake- free. It could have happened to Petr Cech as well." Wenger explained why he left sole summer signing Cech out, saying: "He had a slight alert before the game at Leicester [on Saturday]. It's not because of that that we lost the game. I make those decisions and the selections for the team and I am responsible for it. "You cannot select the team by making a poll before the game and taking everybody's opinion." Wenger, who maintains that Arsenal can still reach the next round, said the blame for the defeat should be shared rather than single out his Colombian goalkeeper. "There was a bit of bad luck as well," he said. "They had four shots on target and scored three goals. "That happens once every 100 games in the Champions League. But we feel guilty because we gave easy goals away." Aaron Ramsey and Nacho Monreal were also omitted in favour of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs, but Wenger again defended his selection. "You cannot play every three days without rotating your players," he said. "We played with [Santi] Cazorla, [Francis] Coquelin and [Mesut] Ozil in midfield. They play together six months. That's the team that plays always." Wenger confirmed that centre-back Laurent Koscielny had to be replaced due to injury in the second half, adding: "A hamstring [problem]. We play many games and that's why we rotate."
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