Arsenal fear Sanchez injury loss could be ‘big blow’
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's gamble of playing his injured ‘lion’ Alexis Sanchez in Sunday's 1-1 Premier League draw at Norwich City may prove costly as the Chilean hobbled off amid fears he could face a lengthy absence.
EPL PHOTOS: Norwich frustrate Arsenal; Spurs hold Chelsea
On a wretched day for the injury-plagued Gunners, which also saw fresh woes for defender Laurent Koscielny and midfielder Santi Cazorla, Wenger admitted that Sanchez's hamstring trouble, in particular, looked ominous for the title challengers.
"We lost Alexis Sanchez. I do not know how long he will be out but it is a big blow," Wenger told reporters. "He says it's a kick on his hamstring. I believe that's not really the reality. I fear it is not the reality."
If forward Sanchez is ruled out for key games, including at Olympiakos on December 9 which could decide Arsenal's Champions League fate, it will doubtless leave Wenger facing criticism about whether it was his own fault in risking the Chilean.
On Thursday, Wenger explained that Sanchez had suffered a "hamstring alarm" after the midweek Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb but reckoned that, like an explosive hunting lion, his predator had the durability and resistance to roar back.
Yet, having also often talked about how his workaholic striker needed a rest, Sunday looked an opportune moment to offer a fatigued stalwart some respite.
When asked about this by reporters, Wenger responded sharply: "The players are there to play, not to be rested when (the) press decides when they need to be rested."
The Frenchman also told Sky Sports when asked if the injury could have been down to Sanchez's workload: "You can say that is a problem but we don't have much choice up front. I would have rested him today but he declared that he had no problem."
Indeed, Sanchez had looked very sharp in the first half, setting up Mesut Ozil's goal, and it was only midway through the second half that he went down, clutching his right hamstring after rushing upfield to chase a loose ball.
Arsenal, whose casualty list has been staggering this year, lost Koscielny after 10 minutes with a hip injury and, according to Wenger, a knee problem saw Cazorla playing "on one leg" in the later stages when Arsenal had run out of replacements.
Chelsea's Costa in the spotlight again - on the bench
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho hailed his team's performance in Sunday's goalless draw at Tottenham Hotspur as the best of the season yet spent most of his post-match press conference fielding questions about a man who did not even play.
Out-of-form Spanish striker Diego Costa cut a disconsolate, frustrated figure in the Premier League contest at White Hart Lane, starting the game on the substitutes' bench with his boots in his hands and ending it by throwing his training bib in Mourinho's direction.
Costa has failed to recapture last season's sparkling form, scoring three goals in 11 league appearances this term.
Yet Mourinho played down suggestions that his relationship with Costa has broken down and that the striker's attitude has become a cause for concern.
"If he wants to hurt me, it's not (with) his bib," Mourinho joked with reporters after the game.
"I was not expecting to have a player on the bench who was jumping and singing because they're not playing. A top player going on the bench? They're not happy. So for me, his behaviour was normal."
Mourinho preferred to highlight the "fantastic" performance of Eden Hazard, who was Chelsea's most creative and dangerous player and, in Costa's absence, was deployed furthest up the pitch.
The Belgian international had Chelsea's best chance half way through the second half, volleying a swinging Ivanovic cross goalward first time with his left foot, which Hugo Lloris tipped away for a corner with an agile dive.
Reigning champions Chelsea went into the match only four points above the relegation zone, so will view this as a platform from which to kick-start their stuttering league season. The draw lifts them one place to 14th.
"I wouldn't be surprised if in the next 10 matches we don't lose one," Mourinho said after the game.
For Spurs, the result was a missed opportunity to move up to fourth, but it stretched their unbeaten league run to 13 games, their best sequence since 1984-85.
Harry Kane, who had scored nine goals in six games, was kept quiet by Chelsea's impressive central defensive partnership of Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma.
Spurs' manager Mauricio Pochettino said his side had the better chances and considered it two points dropped rather than one point gained.
"We had four shots on target, enough chances to score, and they only had one. Hazard. I think we deserved more," he told reporters.
