Riise hits back at Wenger claims over Djourou red card
Published 16:14 03/01/12 By Neil McLeman
John Arne Riise has told Arsene Wenger that Fulham did not try to get Johan Djourou sent off at Craven Cottage.
And the former Liverpool defender claimed Martin Jol's team beat Arsenal in the match because they are fitter and stronger.
Wenger gunning for ref after last-gasp defeat at Fulham
Following the final whistle, Wenger claimed Fulham targeted Djourou after the stand-in full-back received a first booking from referee Lee Probert.
But Riise responded: "We would never do that. What we do is when people are strong like Karim Frei, we give the ball to them and make him go one against one and see what he can do.
"That is a tactic, but we never go out to get someone sent off. That is not fair play and we never do that."
The Norway left-back did criticise Probert's performance - but only for not sending off Djourou earlier for a foul on Frei when already on a caution.
"It should have been a yellow card in the attack before that," Riise continued. "He had three tackles in quite a short time. I thought it should have been a yellow card before that. The referee made the right decision."
Fulham lost 5-0 to Manchester United and were knocked out of the Europa League in their previous two home games. And Riise admitted the Cottagers gave Arsenal too much space to counter-attack in the first half when the visitors took the lead.
"Second half we were more compact and decided to play better football," he said."They gave us a lot of space and we attacked them quite hard on the flanks.
"We're quite a fit squad and we love to work hard. We were a bit stronger than them at the end.
"When Theo Walcott and Gervinho went off that was a tactical change from them because they knew they were struggling. We are looking strong and fit and it's a massive win for us."
While the home side revelled in their surprise victory, Arsenal players were quickly ushered out of Craven Cottage after the match.
Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny tweeted in the aftermath: "Poor result for us, poor goalkeeping by me for the first goal, poor day all around!
"Let's move on and win the next one!"
Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen, who missed the match with a calf strain, echoed Szczesny's comments, tweeting: "Disappointing result today but still long way to go. Keep fighting!"
