Arsene Wenger blames fixture inequality for Arsenal performance at Bournemouth

Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, Wenger said admitted his team had a slower start than the home side, but said his side showed great resilience.

He said: "They started much faster and with 20 minutes to go we were 3-0 down so that’s a mental test. We refused to lose the game."

Though he commended The Cherries for their performance, but repeated earlier complaints that his team had been disadvantaged by the fixture pile-up over the festive period.

Tuesday's match was Arsenal's third in nine days after playing West Brom on Boxing Day, followed by another match against Crystal Palace on New Year's Day.

He said: "Bournemouth deserve a lot of credit but the disadvantage is too big to play against a team with three and a half days recovery. That’s too big a handicap. But they are a good team with quality and they played with pace."

He added: "We showed we are mentally strong. I am happy to play every day but only if our opponent has done the same."

Though Arsenal will be pleased to take home a point after their bad start to the match, the result means the gulf between them and table-toppers Chelsea could widen to 10 points if the West Londoners win at Spurs on Wednesday.

Wenger said: "We dropped two points but we have to do better in the other games and hope other teams will drop points.

"It was not a result we wanted before the game but at 3-0 down we’d have signed for 3-3. We were unlucky in some decisions tonight."

Speaking about the referee's decsion to award Bournemouth a penalty after a foul by Granit Xhaka, while Bournemouth's second goal came after after Ryan Fraser appeared to push Hector Bellerin, Wenger said: “It is no penalty, or if it is then it’s a foul [on Bellerin]. The push from Xhaka was much less strong than the push for the goal.”