Arsène Wenger was involved in a brief flashpoint with a pitch-invading fan at St Mary’s Stadium, where Arsenal began the new year with a 2-0 Premier League loss to Southampton.
The fan ran in front of Wenger and the Arsenal bench during the second half and he appeared to gesture towards the manager. The supporter was later arrested. He was not wearing any colours, so it was unclear whether he was a disgruntled Arsenal fan or a goading Southampton one.
Southampton believe he was an Arsenal supporter who had run on from a part of the home enclosure while Wenger thought he was a Southampton fan. He was led away by security and Wenger later shrugged off the incident. “It was a young boy,” Wenger said. “I think he was a Southampton fan. He was not aggressive at all. I don’t think he said anything. Honestly, he was not aggressive
Wenger had greater worries as his goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, and his back line were guilty of basic lapses, which helped to give Southampton both of their goals. The manager also offered an update on the Lukas Podolski situation, with the striker’s proposed move to Internazionale believed to be on the brink of completion.
Inter have returned with a more realistic offer for the Germany international, who was not part of the Arsenal squad that travelled to the south coast. Wenger cited a “tight groin” as the reason for Podolski’s absence and he smirked as he said so. Wenger also said the 29-year-old had not trained since Sunday’s win at West Ham United.
“The first proposal [of Inter] was farcical,” Wenger said. “After, they come back a bit more serious. We will see what happens. Is the move inevitable? Inevitable in a transfer is very difficult to say but we’ll see what happens. Of course, Podolski is open [to the move].”
Wenger described Thursday’s loss as “self-inflicted”. He said: “We made the mistakes in our final third that allowed them to win the game. We had lapses of focus in vital areas and we paid for it.”
Guardian