Arsene Wenger Believes it was Team Errors that Led to Southampton Loss

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes it was down to the big errors made by his team that the Gunners were knocked out of the Capital One Cup by Southampton on Tuesday evening.

The north London club started the game brightly and went up 1-0 through a sublime free kick courtesy of Alexis Sanchez, but then conceded a penalty, which Tadic easily put away and then went 2-1 down through a screamer from Nathaniel Clyne just five minutes before the end of the first half.

"It's disappointing because we had a good start and we made two unnecessary errors on the two goals - they were big ones. We lacked a bit of experience at the back. I agree with you but overall they did well," Wenger said, as quoted on Arsenal's official site.

In the second half, the Gunners had the majority of the possession and a few excellent chances, but failed to score and eventually ran out of time.

The Frenchman gave credit where it was due and admitted that Southampton did play well and were very organised in their game. But he did criticise them for fouling a lot in the midfield to stop Arsenal from playing their game.

"We gave a lot and it's frustrating as we were not able to score in the second half. If you look at the amount of possession we had in the second half, and you play for so long with the amount of possession we had, you have to score.

"I think the first reason for our defeat is the quality of our opponent and the performance of our opponent. They played well and were very organised. They abused the fouls in the middle of the park but they are a good side and they played well tonight. Overall it's frustrating because we gave a lot," the Gunners boss added.

Apart from that, Wenger had words of praise for the youngsters and cleared them off the blame for the loss against the Saints.

"I think if we lost the game tonight it's not because of Hayden and it's not because of Chambers. It's not because of Coquelin. We have to be realistic," Wenger explained.

"I cannot fault the spirit and I cannot fault the attitude," the 64-year-old manager concluded.