Arsene Wenger Suggests Ref to Blame for Alexis Sanchez, Christian Fuchs Incident

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has blamed the referee for Alexis Sanchez's yellow card after a bizarre incident involving Leicester City defender Christian Fuchs in the Premier League on Wednesday night, per Mattias Karen for ESPN FC.

Sanchez was booked after persistently attempting to obstruct Fuchs' throw-in, which resulted in the Leicester player launching the ball straight at the Chilean. Despite the ball appearing to strike the former Barcelona man on the shoulder, he went to ground clutching his face.

"I think he didn't know that he had to be further away," Wenger said. "As well, I must say the referee didn't tell him. After the first attempt, the referee didn't tell him he has to move away."

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

Arsenal ran out 1-0 winners at the Emirates Stadium thanks to an 86th-minute own goal by Leicester defender Robert Huth. Victory gave the Gunners their first back-to-back league wins since January, easing the pressure on Wenger and taking them to within four points of fourth place.

Wenger was happy to concede that Sanchez was at fault, but he thinks the match officials could have done more to prevent an escalation of the incident.

"After that, he got a yellow card because he didn't respect the rule," he said. "I accept that, because he was not at the right distance. The referee should have told him, or the linesman."

The incident, and Sanchez's reaction, was widely derided on social media:

The Arsenal manager told reporters that he did not see the incident itself, but he thought Fuchs could also have been punished for his part.

"On top of that, I think Fuchs was lucky not to get a yellow card because he threw the ball at him on purpose," he said. "I was looking in the box, as you can understand, because I thought the danger is not Alexis, the danger is what happens in the box. I saw after that it hit him somewhere. I will check on the video."

Arsenal visit Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday desperately hoping to dent their north London rivals' title challenge. They will no doubt need Sanchez to be at his best—and to play with a cool head—for a potentially season-defining game.