WENGER: ANDY CARROLL’S HEADERS KILLED US

Arsenal Coach, Arsene Wenger has praised the effort of West Ham striker, Andy Carroll after a superb performance against his team. He admitted the striker had a field day as his defenders were unable to deal with crosses.

The Gunners lost out in their Premier League campaign this season with the draw. League leaders, Leicester City went on to defeat Sunderland in a hard-fought away match. Tottenham in second place also defeated Manchester United derailing Arsenal’s EPL title charge.

Leicester City now ahead of The Gunners by 13 points though Arsenal have a game in hand. Arsenal were ahead in the match with goals from Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez at Upton Park. Andy Carroll then started his goal scoring spree sending Westham into the lead but Laurent Koscielny was able to salvage a point for the team.

Arsene Wenger admits that the striker who has now scored seven Premier League goals for West Ham this season was lucky not to have been sent off challenge on Koscielny in the first half.

Wenger admitted that his team’s defense struggled with Carroll’s aerial strength.

“Why did we struggle with Carroll? Because he’s good in the air. We had a good game but a bad result, and we paid for a weakness we have had all season – headers in our box.”

On Carroll’s tackle on Koscielny. Wenger said: “Yes of course, he was lucky to finish the game, but that doesn’t mean we have to concede goals from headers; we have to look at ourselves.”

After the impressive performance against Arsenal, West Ham manager, Slaven Bilic said: “I’m not blaming him but it’s a fact that he’s out every now and then. And it’s a fact that when he’s got consistency he’s like he was against Arsenal though, OK, he can’t score three goals every game.”

“So he’s got to do something. As a medical team, as a club we’re doing everything, so he’s got to do ­something. He’s doing it but he should be even more dedicated to stay away from those injuries for a few years. Because it’s a waste for West Ham and probably for England. It’s a waste for big clubs if they want to buy him from abroad,” Bilic added.