Wenger: Arshavin scored with injured foot
442 Staff - Tuesday 15 December 2009, 01:45
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has added insult to injury to under-fire Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez by revealing that Andrei Arshavin scored his winning goal at Anfield on Sunday with an injured foot.
The Gunners levelled shortly after half-time courtesy of an own-goal from Glen Johnson before Arshavin - playing as a makeshift centre-forward - capitalised on another moment of hesitation from the England international to unleash a thunderbolt past Pepe Reina and inflict more misery on the Merseysiders.
And Wenger explained that the Russian had sat out training all week to rest his right foot, adding that the injury was the reason why the 28-year-old had to be substituted in the dying moments of the game.
"Arshavin surprises goalkeepers and defenders all the time," he said in The Sun.
"But actually his right foot was injured and he couldn't hit a ball properly all week.
"He couldn't practice and afterwards had to come off because of it. But I don't know if that means he could have hit it even harder!
"But at that moment when he scored, you don't think of the pain."