Wenger Angry Over Perez Injury
Arsene Wenger has accused Reading’s Danzell Gravenberch of deliberately kicking Arsenal’s Lucas Perez, who has been ruled out of action for eight weeks.
Wenger is angry that Danzell Gravenberch clattered Perez in Arsenal’s 2-0 League Cup victory at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
Perez will now miss a large part of Arsenal’s campaign with an ankle problem and Wenger is frustrated that Dutch defender Gravenberch avoided punishment for the challenge.
He believes Gravenberch escaped red
The Arsenal manager likened Gravenberch’s tackle to the incident that led to a red card for Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka in a 3-2 win over Swansea earlier this month.
“It’s very frustrating, of course he [Perez] is absolutely gutted. It’s an injury coming from nowhere, and a stupid one, because it was a deliberate kick.
”It’s a similar tackle to Xhaka, but there was no red card. But the red card would not have helped Perez.” Wenger said on Friday.
“What is most important is that he’s out for six to eight weeks.
”It was not needed. I think it was a more frustrated reaction from the player.
“He had no chance to get the ball like that, but you have to deal with that.
“Sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you get a bad injury. In this case it’s unfortunate.”
Giroud, Ramsey return
There’s better news for Wenger as Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey have been declared fit. Both players are now available for selection ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League game at Sunderland on Saturday.
Giroud has finally recovered from a long-term toe problem, while Ramsey returns for the first time since the opening day of the season after hamstring trouble.
