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Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has hit out at the officials for failing to punish Arsenal ‘time-wasting’ on Saturday.
The Gunners managed a 2-1 win at the Emirates as they moved three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
O’Neil challenged the officials after Wolves’ defeat at the EmiratesAFP
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard put Mikel Arteta’s side in control, but Matheus Cunha’s late goal set up a nervy finish towards the end.
O’Neil later highlighted Arsenal‘s game-management tactics which he believes went unnoticed by the officials.
“I just thought Arsenal took ages over the restarts at the end,” the 40-year-old said post-match.
“I was told we were going to 98 because there was a long stoppage in added time but they had three restarts and they took 45 seconds with each.
“I felt at the time it could have been extended slightly because we’re trying to clamp down on time wasting.
“Sometimes you don’t expect Arsenal to be time-wasting but I am sure if we had taken as long over some of the throws and restarts away at the Emirates we would have been receiving yellow cards.
“No criticism of Arsenal, if it was me I would’ve had my team taking their time at that moment as well.
“We’re seeing a lot of people booked for delaying restarts and didn’t feel like we got the time we thought we should’ve had.”
O’Neil lauded his players for their fighting spirit and was delighted with the overall performance of his side.
“We started so strong again,” he added. “The first half was brilliant. We scored two good goals and dominated everything. We let them in a little bit with the goal, but that’s football. I guess we have to learn from that.
“We know in the Premier League that you can never switch off. Today was a good example of that. We have to make sure we do even better next time we go 2-0 up.
“It’s been a good week with some good results. We’re there at the top and we have to keep improving and keep pushing.
“[The schedule] is tough, but almost the whole season is tough. You don’t have much time to recover. We have to be smart with our recovery and get some rest before the next game [against Luton].”
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