LONDON -- Just like the FA Cup final, Hull City were denied by a late Arsenal strike. This time though, even if they felt so, the Tigers were not beaten after Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal's remaining ray of hope, finally found a way through and set up Danny Welbeck. Relief, not joy, was the overriding Emirates emotion.
Until then, it had been an afternoon in which Arsenal's failings, and those of their manager, were exposed. Hull, despite the rancour of home fans toward referee Roger East, deserved their lead right up until the first minute of stoppage time, when Sanchez's quality ripped them asunder. Arsenal had dominated possession but did little with it. It was not until the dying moments that momentum was built up.
Arsene Wenger is paying for his inaction in preparing for a defensive crisis and his team are already 11 points behind Chelsea, a position from which the Frenchman does not hide. "I cannot say it is not a concern, because the other team wins their games and we don't," he admitted.
Callum Chambers' admirable feat of collecting five bookings in five matches had robbed Wenger of a player who is both his reserve right-back and third centre-back. It is perhaps telling that the teenager did not receive a single booking last season at Southampton; Arsenal's midfield does not provide nearly enough protection.
Nacho Monreal, a left-back by trade, stood in alongside Per Mertesacker as Laurent Koscielny is suffering from an Achilles problem. Barely 6 feet and nobody's idea of an enforcer, the Spaniard relies on footballing ability to guide him through. When Mohamed Diame barrelled through him and Mathieu Flamini for Hull's equaliser, the experiment already looked a failure.
Arsenal were enraged that Diame's hands were raised in beating Flamini, but the Frenchman's failure to play to the referee's whistle left the Senegalese through on goal and he finished with a delicacy diametrically opposed to the brute force that had carried him there. "An individual piece of grappling," joked Hull manager Steve Bruce afterward. "It's a good decision to get at Arsenal."
"The first goal is for the referee," said Wenger, witheringly, before turning on his own defenders for the concession of Hull's second, scored after 32 seconds of the second half when Tom Huddlestone found Abel Hernandez.
"You cannot concede at 1-1 like we did. We have enough experience to know that. They had two shots on goal in the whole game," said Wenger, who also referred to defensive issues in Arsenal's previous game:
"Chelsea had three shots on goal in the whole game. It's difficult against any team in the world to score three goals."
Wenger's refusal to add another defender in August now looks exceptionally rash. This time last season, Arsenal were front-runners of the Premier League but began the Saturday in eighth, having been taught a lesson in pragmatism by Chelsea a fortnight ago.
Injuries and questionable transfer business are hampering the Gunners' ambitions. Meanwhile, the sole remaining central defender, Mertesacker, was badly caught out by Hernandez's goal.
In the absence of a serviceable backline, the attack is under greater pressure, and, though Sanchez scored during a bright start, Hull's organisation frustrated Arsenal until the bitter end. Steve Bruce fielding three centre-backs might have made Wenger envious, and Michael Dawson, booed for being a former Spurs captain, is an organiser in the style his manager once was as a player.
Dawson also enraged the home fans by twice going down injured as time ticked on. A barely concealed smile was on his face as he left the field the first time. But the second saw him replaced by Alex Bruce, at which point Arsenal finally began to make greater progress in attack.
Hull were patched-up themselves. Steve Harper was the starting goalkeeper in the absence of Allan McGregor and made a smart save from a viciously dipping Santi Cazorla effort but an arthritic attempt to stop Sanchez's 15th-minute opener betrayed his 39 years. Just before halftime, Harper left the field distraught, having ruptured a bicep.
In his stead arrived the Slovenian Eldin Jakupovic, whose untucked shirt suggested a lack of readiness though a distinct lack of shots to save from Arsenal gave him plenty of time to bed in. He did not have to make a save until four minutes from time, when he pushed a Sanchez header over the bar.
Hernandez had played only because Nikica Jelavic twisted his knee in the warm-up, and the Uruguayan went off himself with a second-half injury. Hatem Ben Arfa, meanwhile, put a performance of such invisibility that it was easy to sympathise with Alan Pardew's unpopular decision to let him depart Newcastle on loan.
Nevertheless, Hull took Arsenal to the brink. When Aaron Ramsey arrived as a 63rd-minute substitute, he did so weeks ahead of schedule. Wenger badly needed a talisman and turned to his Wembley hero, perhaps attempting to psyche Hull out. Ramsey's drive stepped up Arsenal's efforts but quality evaded them.
Jack Wilshere looked to have added himself to the casualties list with a twisted knee that was self-inflicted as he foolishly fouled Gaston Ramirez in midfield. At first, it looked as if a stretcher might have been required. Instead, he limped off, and looked a doubt for Anderlecht at the very least.
But, according to Wenger, who looked somewhat displeased at the mention of the incident, Wilshere is "well" and might play in midweek "if selected," which perhaps betrayed a dissatisfaction with the midfielder's undisciplined afternoon.
It was left to Sanchez to supply the individual brilliance that 35 million pounds will buy you. Welbeck's finish was cool, too, considering the circumstances. The pair had rescued the day, but the evidence suggested that Arsenal's season may continue to be troubled for some time to come.
"We got a point; we had 80 percent possession and we got a point," lamented Wenger. Possession is all very well, but make mistakes like they do and Arsenal will continue to suffer.