Arsenal vs Swansea: Swans 'did not play' grumbles Wenger after late goal steals game

Wenger was clearly not impressed with Swansea's approach to the game, which meant defending deep, with Gylfi Sigurdsson the lone striker before Gomis' introduction

Wenger's side made life harder for themselves with defeat to Swansea (Getty)

Arsene Wenger and Garry Monk fought a war of words last night after Swansea City's 1-0 win at the Emirates.

Bafetimbi Gomis headed in the only goal from Swansea's only real chance after 84 minutes of resolute defending.

Wenger was notably frustrated afterwards and said repeatedly that Swansea "did not play" in his post-match press conference.

"We were unlucky I think against a team who refused to play completely and just defended," said Wenger afterwards. "It is frustrating. We knew exactly what could happen."

Wenger was clearly not impressed with Swansea's approach to the game, which meant defending deep, with Gylfi Sigurdsson the lone striker before Gomis' introduction. "They defended well. They came just to defend with four defenders and six midfielders. If you win - fantastic, if you lose people say why do you not play? They won so they are fantastic."

Before the game Wenger praised Monk but he turned down the chance to do so again after losing the match. "I cannot say they played a lot, they go home I don't know how many passes they made. They came here to defend and they didn't play."

Monk, though, staunchly defended his team's approach. "Three points is the pleasing bit whether we deserved it or not," he said. "We took a decision. We could have come here and gone toe to toe but they could have hurt us. We didn't have a striker fitness wise."

Monk could claim vindication for his approach after winning a surprise three points despite limited possession. "We have done it all season, had many games where we dominated games and won," he said. "There are times you have to be adaptable. The idea was to get to the last 20 minutes still in the game, make our substitutions and try to win the game. If we didn't play how did we get three points?"