Arsene Wenger speaks on the controversial winner by Laurent Koscielny

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted that his team was lucky to walk away with all the three points against Burnley.

The game was marred by controversy as the Gunners secured victory with a controversial Laurent Koscielny goal in the dying minutes of a fiercely fought match. The home team was looking destined for a valuable point after putting up a spirited fight throughout the match before Arsenal defender Koscielny somehow sent the ball over the line in second-half stoppage time. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain appeared to knock the ball on to Koscielny and the ball found the back of the net via the France international’s arm. The handball was not the only controversy as there was also a hint of offside with Koscielny standing on the goal line.

While admitting that it was a lucky win, Wenger spared a thought for the home team who were undone by the unfortunate event.

He said: “I was asking myself, ‘Why did they not put the ball in direct?’“But we were lucky and I have been in the job long enough to know that Burnley will be gutted to lose a goal like that.”

As expected, the goal did not go down too well with Burnley manager Sean Dyche who said:“Our analyst tells me we were over time by six seconds.

“A lot of things went on during those few seconds, such as why did the ref not blow when Arsenal took a short corner?

“Then there was the handball by Koscielny and the suggestion of offside. I haven’t spoken to the ref as there’s no point now.”

The win was Arsenal’s fifth in a row and they are now third in the table with 16 points, 2 points behind the leaders Manchester City. Wenger said that the win was very important as they were desperate to reduce the five-point gap between them and the table-toppers.

“While I can understand how Burnley feels, I will say that while we did not play well, you do not get chances unless you keep going,” Wenger said.

“This was very important for us because we started five points behind Manchester City and we wanted to cut the gap. Our legs were not as dynamic as in recent games and Burnley played well,” he added.