Arsenal Star Jack Wilshere Insists Atletico Madrid Equaliser Should've Been Disallowed

Arsenal drew 1-1 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie with Atletico Madrid last night, but Jack Wilshere has claimed that a foul in the build

Arsenal drew 1-1 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie with Atletico Madrid last night, but Jack Wilshere has claimed that a foul in the build up to Antoine Griezmann's late equaliser meant it should have been disallowed. 

Madrid were without right-back Sime Vrsaljko for most of the game after he was shown red just 13 minutes into the tie, but the Gunners could not take advantage of the extra man despite controlling the game. Arsenal had 28 shots over the 90 minutes, compared to Atleti's six .

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However, the north London side were made to rue missed chances. A defensive blunder from Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny allowed Antoine Griezmann to latch onto a long ball and cancel out Alexandre Lacazette's opening goal. 

A despondent Jack Wilshere spoke to Arsenal's official website after the game, and claimed that Griezmann's goal should not have stood: "All I remember is Danny possibly got fouled.

"I don’t really know as I couldn’t see from where I was – and then their player hooked it away and all of a sudden Griezmann is in. You can’t give a player a player of his quality that time." 

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"They got a bit lucky with the bounce off David [Ospina], but if you give a player like that an opportunity he’s going to punish you."

Despite a disappointing night, Wilshere believes that there are positives to be taken from the game ahead of the second-leg tie in Madrid.

"We created loads and loads of chances and they have a great goalkeeper," he said after the game. "We found ways through their defence and we have to keep doing that. Hopefully a little bit of luck will be on our side on the night."

Arsenal travel to Old Trafford on Sunday to play Manchester United, looking for a positive result to consolidate their sixth place finish, and give them momentum for the second leg against Atletico Madrid next Thursday.