Wenger admits he didn't expect Andy Carroll to start for West Ham as Petr Cech's absence costs Arsenal

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James Benge9 April 2016

Arsene Wenger admitted he had selected his team not expecting Andy Carroll to play after the West Ham striker hit a hat-trick in a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Boleyn Ground.

The 27-year-old could have been sent off inside the opening ten minutes for a lunge on Arsenal centre-back Laurent Koscielny, who had appeared to catch Carroll with an elbow. Referee Craig Pawson awarded a yellow for the raking challenge along his opponent’s heel, a decision that outraged the visitors.

Certainly Wenger was in no doubt, and felt that Carroll was “lucky to finish the game” however he also admitted that he had no expected the 6 foot 3 striker to lead the West Ham line.

“I didn’t expect him to start at all, he has not played in the last five or six games,” Wenger told Standard Sport.

Petr Cech had surprisingly been confined to a bench that also included Per Mertesacker, the same height as Carroll. Whilst Wenger had suggested prior to the game that he was loath to change a winning formula it had been assumed he was only referring to Alex Iwobi and Mohamed Elneny and not reserve goalkeeper David Ospina.

Carroll ensured West Ham profited from Arsenal’s undersized backline with a remarkable eight-minute hat-trick either side of half-time, all three of which came from wide deliveries into the box.

It is not the first time that the aerial prowess of Carroll has been too much for Arsenal to handle, he scored the only goal for Newcastle in victory at the Emirates in 2010, but Wenger believes there was more to his side’s struggles than just this particular giant.

“He’s good in the air,” Wenger said. “I believe as well we lost a bit of urgency when we were 2-0 up, we had a good game today but a bad result.

“It’s been a weakness we’ve had throughout the season. If you look at the goals we’ve conceded throughout the year it’s been headers in our box and that happened today.”

Whilst the manager believed that Carroll should not have been on the field to inflict aerial damage on Arsenal’s backline he did not absolve his backline of blame after two dropped points.

“He was lucky to finish the game but that doesn’t mean we have to concede goals on the headers if he stays on the pitch.

“We have to look at ourselves, we cannot influence the decision of the referee. I believe that overall yes he was lucky.”

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