West Brom a stunner for Gunners

LONDON // Arsene Wenger said his Arsenal side got what they deserved yesterday against West Bromwich Albion - nothing. The Gunners went into yesterday's match at the Emirates Stadium expected to win easily, but were stunned as Roberto Di Matteo's side went 3-0 up and held off a late fightback to record their first victory at Arsenal in 27 years. "We were poor and we got a poor result," Wenger said. "We were poor everywhere, at the back, up front and in the middle of the park. We were not good enough to win the game. Anything was difficult for us today, to pass the ball, to win it back. Overall we got what we deserved, that is zero points. We didn't deserve more."

Wenger refused to criticise Manuel Almunia, the goalkeeper who gave away a first-half penalty and then saved it, from Chris Brunt, before gifting Albion their second goal by letting Gonzalo Jara's shot slip through his fingers. "Well, you can have question marks over many players today," Wenger added. "Many players made massive mistakes defensively. I do not want to talk about any one performance."

West Brom took the lead in the 50th minute when Peter Odemwingie tapped home from six yards. Two minutes later Jara scored before Jerome Thomas made it 3-0 in the 73rd minute. Despite a frantic finish, which saw Samir Nasri reduce the deficit twice, West Brom hung on. "I would say we deserved it, the way we played, the way we created chances, scored goals and played very well," Di Matteo said. "We go into games believing we can win. It was the way we won, we were not lucky. We played some tremendous football and defended well too."

* Press Association