Arsene Wenger has said referees are protected like “lions in the zoo” after saying that bad decisions cost Arsenal in their 2-1 defeat by Manchester City.
Wenger’s side led before Leroy Sane equalised, although replays showed he was offside by the finest of margins.
And David Silva was in an offside position when Raheem Sterling scored the winner, but it was unclear whether he hindered goalkeeper Petr Cech.
“It’s very difficult to accept in a game of that stature,” Wenger said.
“But, as it is well known, the referees are protected very well like the lions in the zoo, so we have to live with those decisions.”
The Gunners took the lead at the Etihad Stadium thanks to Theo Walcott’s early breakaway goal before City fought back to triumph with two second-half strikes that sent them above Arsenal and into second place.
Asked to clarify his comments about the officials, Wenger said: “I want them to be very well protected, and I want them to be safe, but if they could make the right decisions it would be even better.”
He added: “I can understand City look very happy – I would be as well – but I think the goals are offside.”
Arsenal slipped to fourth, two points behind City and nine behind leaders Chelsea, after suffering their second defeat in six days.
Wenger had also blamed the first loss, at Everton on Tuesday, on the officials – leading Toffees manager Ronald Koeman to mock him for questioning referee Mark Clattenburg’s decision-making.
“It has been an absolutely horrible week,” added Wenger, whose side now have two home games in a row against West Brom on Boxing Day and Crystal Palace on New Year’s Day.
“What is worse is that out of two good performances we got zero points and, out of two leading positions, we lost two games.
“That of course is very disappointing. Before we think about being nine points behind Chelsea, we have to think about why we have not kept a clean sheet.”
Arsenal had looked in assured form in the first half at the Etihad Stadium but, just like at Goodison Park, they were overpowered after the break.
“I felt we were in control before half-time and it did not look like we could lose the game,” Wenger explained.
“We were caught cold in the second half but I felt as well that we dropped physically in the second half.
“I think that is because of the accumulation of games we have played recently, especially away from home – four of the past five have been away.
“We also had one day less recovery than everyone else before we played at Everton. I felt there was plenty of big teams who don’t play in Europe who could have played on Tuesday.”
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Source: BBC