Greeced fingers! Ospina calamity drops Wenger in it as Arsenal face Champions League KO

Ospina's mistake for Olympiacos' second goal summed up a nightmare game for Wenger's side

ARSENAL’S Champions League future is hanging by a thread after a calamity showing by goalkeeper David Ospina.

 

The Colombian, called in for No1 Petr Cech by Arsene Wenger, dropped a corner into his own net as Arsenal lost their second successive group game for the first time ever.

Wenger’s decision backfired spectacularly on the Frenchman – Cech watching from the bench as Arsenal are staring down the barrel of failing to qualify for the knockout stages for first time in 16 years.

 

Arsenal now face daunting back-to-back games against formidable group favourites Bayern Munich as they look to keep their hopes alive.

Wenger said: “Is it my worst night in the Champions League? No. Try sitting on the bench and losing in a final. To look at a goalkeeping mistake is always the simple thing. 

 

Ospina played 23 games and had 10 clean sheets last season. Last week at Tottenham he had a fantastic game.

“No goalkeeper is mistake-free. That could have happened to Petr Cech.

“I do not have to sit here and give people an explanation of every decision I make. I leave people to judge that. But it was not because of that that we lost the game. It's a farce.

 

David Ospina fails to deal with Kostas Fortounis' corner

“I make the decisions and the selections and I am responsible. I know things that people don’t know and that they ignore when I make those decisions. I cannot make selections based on polls and everybody’s point of view.”

But the defiant Gunners boss admitted: “This leaves us in a bad position, but we are still in it. We have to get a result against Bayern at home. We are not out of this.

 

“They had four shots and scored three goals. We lacked concentration defensively and were unlucky.”

Arsenal legend Ian Wright, commentating for BT Sport, criticised Wenger and said: “I think it was a big mistake picking Ospina. They lost in Dinamo Zagreb in their first game, which was a terrible result.

“Why not start with Cech, because of his experience? Arsenal had to win. It was a big mistake.”