Arsene Wenger on Defeat against Chelsea: I Felt The Referee Was Very Lenient With Blues

Arsene Wenger has accused referee Martin Atkinson of being very lenient towards Chelsea during Arsenal's latest defeat.

The Frenchman's search for his first victory over Jose Mourinho was denied after the Gunners suffered a 2-0 loss to their London rivals at Stamford Bridge. There were several decisions which went against both teams throughout the game.

The Emirates club dominated the game, but were not clinical in the final third. Chelsea, on the other hand took, chances as Eden Hazard and Diego Costa were on the score sheet for Mourinho's side.

The latest fixture against Chelsea saw Arsenal end their unbeaten run in the league. Wenger admitted his side were not able to take the defeat as he says a draw would have been a fair result.

"I felt the referee was very lenient with them. They broke up all of our counter-attacks without being punished," Wenger told Arsenal's official website.

"Yes, a point was in it. It was down to us not to make defensive mistakes and use the dangerous situations we had and I think we were a bit short on both sides."

"We made a defensive mistake at the moment when we couldn't afford to do it, and also when it was 1-0 and we were all over them I felt it was important not to concede a second goal. We did produce a good performance and both keepers had no saves to make," he added.

Meanwhile, Arsenal vice-captain Per Mertesacker has expressed his frustration after his side failed to convert the chances against Chelsea.

"We tried to be more in control than last year and we always made sure we had cover at the back," Mertesacker explained.

"In the second half we tried to push more and we took more risks. That was the second goal for them. In the first half there were a couple of good decisions, a couple of good chances for us but we missed that bit."