Arsene Wenger doesn't know how to behave when he loses, fumes Mark Hughes after Carling Cup bust-up

Mark Hughes branded Arsene Wenger a bad loser for refusing to shake hands after Manchester City crushed Arsenal to reach their first semi-final in 28 years.

The rival bosses exchanged words when Hughes collected a ball inside Wenger’s technical area during the game, and the Arsenal boss, stung by a comprehensive defeat, stomped off down the tunnel on the final whistle refusing the usual protocol of a handshake.

Hughes waved down the tunnel as Wenger disappeared from view.

The City boss said: “I turned round to see if he was there, but he was running down the tunnel. I was a little bit surprised.

“You have to be gracious when you win and gracious in defeat and maybe Arsene wasn't too gracious. But I can understand it, maybe he's used to winning games and when he does get beat sometimes he doesn't know how to behave."

Wenger's response was: “I think I have nothing to say. I am free to shake hands with whom I want.”

Wenger then opened himself up to fury from Arsenal fans claiming losing was a price worth paying for giving his teenage talent a game, and claimed that the Carling Cup doesn’t count as a major trophy victory.

Hughes was left to celebrate second half goals from Carlos Tevez, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Vladimir Weiss that gave full strength City a comprehensive win.

City then drew local rivals Manchester United in the semi final, a tie which will re-ignite Sir Alex Ferguson’s “noisy neighbour” war of words with Hughes.

Hughes said: “We showed our intent. We have a first semi final in 28 years. We enjoyed the manner of our victory. It is his choice (not to shake hands.)

“At one point he questioned why I was on his side of his technical area. Maybe he had a problem with that. I was a little bit disappointed with that. Maybe he has to be more gracious. It is unnecessary.

“We all hurt when we get beat. You don’t have to not shake someone’s hand just because you lose. I hurt when we lose but I always offer my hand.

“Comparisons are made between ourselves and Chelsea, and teams who have had resources in the past. We have started from a lower level, and we need time but we will get there as soon as we can.

“This is an important win for us as a club. We are in a domestic semi final. We picked strong sides because we believe it is important to do that. We have treated the competition with the respect it deserves.

“It is a fantastic draw. We will enjoy the game against United. We will be a match for anyone on our day.”

Asked about Ferguson’s “noisy neighbour” put down, Hughes said: “Let’s hope that is the case. We want to progress. We have had a bit of negativity in the last few weeks because of frustration.

“We have invested a lot of money to get consistent results. We know against certain opposition we can achieve more. But we are going in the right direction.

Asked about the spat Wenger said: “Is it professional courtesy to shake hands? Maybe I have no professional courtesy! I have nothing else to say.”

Wenger then launched a defence of his policy of choosing young sides to fight the Carling Cup - and delivered a major slur to the competition.

Wenger claimed it was not worth winning and added: “We have not won a trophy since 2005. I don’t consider if you win the Carling Cup that you parade around and say you have won a trophy. It is to develop our young players.

“If you play in the Champions League semi final or final it is ten times more difficult.

“They played their full side. We didn’t. We play Champions League, they don’t. You cannot say we want to develop players like Ramsey and Eastmond and Merida and not give them a game. It is a price we have to pay.

“They were more dangerous us in the final third. Despite the fact I believe we played well for large slices, they had weight and power. Our young players are not used to such intensity and after an hour we dropped. It is good experience.

“Anyway, playing at home we’d have won this game. The home crowd was a big motivating factor for City.

“There is no equilibrium with money. We came here believing we could win. They won, congratulations to them.”

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