Arsenal vs Swansea: Arsene Wenger claims Granit Xhaka's red card should have been a 'dark yellow'

Xhaka was sent off for a cynical foul from behind on Modou Barrow

Bob Bradley is greeted by Arsene Wenger on the side-lines (Getty)

Arsene Wenger insisted that Granit Xhaka is “not a dirty player”, but would have to improve his discipline, after the Swiss international picked up another red card in Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat of Swansea City at the Emirates Stadium.

Xhaka was sent off for a cynical foul from behind on Modou Barrow, a red card with which Wenger did not have too many complaints, and against which he will not appeal. Wenger said that the foul was a “dark yellow” but admitted that Xhaka would have to learn not to do that again.

“He is not a dirty player at all, but is sometimes clumsy,” Wenger said. “He is not a natural defender. He is a guy who likes to play forward, and Barrow made a lot of it as well. Because he was gone, the referee saw a bad tackle. It is what it is, he has to learn from it. Intelligence means that you do not make the same mistake twice.”

Arsenal were heading for a very comfortable win at 3-1 but Wenger pointed to the nervy finish as being down to a “loss of focus” when Arsenal were at their best in the second half.

“What looked to become comfortable finished in a very uncomfortable way, we just got over the line,” Wenger said. “In patches we played some fantastic football. At 2-0 maybe we lost a bit our focus, and after that, again at 3-1. At 3-2 we could have scored a fourth, but also could have conceded. In the end we just got over the line. We played together, with spirit, until the end, but it was difficult.”

Bob Bradley took some pride from the first game of his tenure as Swansea City manager, and saw positive signs for Swansea’s fight against relegation. “That game had many different parts,” he said.

Granit Xhaka was sent off for a rash lunge (Getty)

“We started poorly. Defensively the first two goals were not handled well, but we gave ourselves a real chance. We are confident we can turn this around. After the week of training we have just had and the mentality of the team, for me we are going to become a good team."