Wenger rages against FA after McCarthy strike stuns Arsenal

Arsène Wenger went out of the FA Cup to a brilliant late goal from Benni McCarthy last night but the Arsenal manager refused to take his leave without launching an extraordinary attack on the Football Association and Chelsea. Claiming to be the victim of a conspiracy, he criticised the assistant referee at the centre of Emmanuel Adebayor's dismissal in the Carling Cup final and invited further controversy on his beleaguered club by challenging Frank Lampard to come clean over the incident that saw the Togo international sent off.

Following a third consecutive cup defeat in a week - the first time Arsenal have suffered such a sequence since October 2002 - Wenger bristled with indignation at Blackburn's tactics in their 1-0 triumph but saved most of his venom for the disciplinary process that left him without Adebayor and Kolo Touré in the fifth round replay and for the FA's refusal to retrospectively punish any Chelsea players following the mêlée that marred Sunday's final at The Millennium Stadium.

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The Arsenal manager insisted: "We are disappointed [to go out] but what is most disappointing is we lost players on Sunday for three or four games for championship games. We lost players like Adebayor, who would have played tonight. I don't agree with the compliance committee, who have a selected view, and I don't agree with the report of the linesman on the sending off.

"I feel that Adebayor didn't punch anybody. When he says he punched Frank Lampard, I would like someone to ask Frank Lampard if he has been punched by Adebayor. If Lampard says yes, I want him to say the truth, then we accept it, but we have watched it through a microscope and if Adebayor punches Lampard I would like them to show me."

Wenger's words are likely to attract further punishment from the FA but it reveals the depth of Arsenal's grievance over what they believe is persecution by English football's governing body after Adebayor and Emmanuel Eboué yesterday denied charges that have been brought against them following a weight of evidence from Cardiff. The Togolese striker has been charged with reacting aggressively and failing to leave the field of play after being sent off while Eboué, who escaped censure from referee Howard Webb on Sunday, has been subsequently charged with violent conduct against Wayne Bridge.

Both have requested personal hearings to present their version of events, even though the decision could result in heavier penalties, and Wenger believes the pair have been unjustly treated in comparison with their Chelsea counterparts. "It is strange to see who has been charged and it is difficult to accept," he added. "It is a coincidence that 20 men have a brawl and only the Arsenal men are guilty. It is unbelievable. Maybe that is their way to do justice."

On the charge against Adebayor, which appeared straightforward given that he was dragged off the pitch on Sunday by the physio Gary Lewin, the Arsenal manager claimed: "If they [the FA] acknowledge that he was wrongly sent off then they are in a bad position to punish him for his protests."

Wenger also insisted his side should have been awarded two penalties at Ewood Park last night and bemoaned Blackburn's place in the quarter-finals as merely the result of "the only chance they had in 180 minutes. And I don't think Blackburn didn't create anything on purpose".

Unsurprisingly that view was contested by the victorious Rovers manager, Mark Hughes, following a result that vindicated his decision to play for a draw in the first tie at The Emirates and has left the four-times FA Cup winner facing a home game against Manchester City for a place in the semi-finals.

"Benni's goal was worthy of winning any game and over the two games we deserved it," said the Blackburn manager. "We were solid and professional at The Emirates, because I always felt our best chance was to bring them here. Over two games two very good Arsenal teams haven't created a great deal against us."