Arsène Wenger is facing the possibility of further disciplinary action after Uefa intervened at half-time of last night’s match to suggest that he was flouting his touchline suspension.
Wenger had been banned from communicating directly with the players as punishment for his behaviour in the aftermath of last season’s defeat against Barcelona and so took his place in the directors’ box next to Boro Primorac, the first-team coach.
Wenger was serving a touchline ban held over from last year and had to watch his side's 1-0 win from the stands.
Arsenal were given the impression Wenger would be allowed to pass messages to assistant Pat Rice via first team coach Boro Primorac
But Wenger was warned at half-time that this was not allowed.
The Gunners manager cut an agitated figure throughout the second half as he sat alongside Primorac and did not attend a post-match media conference, insisting his one-match suspension also precluded him from conducting media duties.
Arsenal officials were puzzled by Uefa's stance; having left the pre-match briefing sure that Wenger could send messages to the coaching staff via a third party, in this instance Primorac.
Wenger must now wait to discover if Uefa regards his communication with Rice as a disciplinary offence, although they are certain to insist this was as a result of a misunderstanding rather than a breach of the terms of his touchline ban.
The Arsenal manager's frustration will have been increased by his side's failure to dominate the tie after taking an early lead through Theo Walcott.
The Gunners were at times outplayed by Udinese, but England winger Walcott insisted Arsenal were in a "great position" and is keen to move on from the sale of Cesc Fabregas this week.
"We've just got to carry on," he said. "It's time to move on. He was a great player for the club but he's gone.
"We still have some very talented players in the squad here and we believe we can achieve something this year.
"We're in a great position but it's far from over. We didn't finish it off but we dug in and gave absolutely everything. That's two clean sheets in a row now, and we're capable of winning over there."
Walcott has been dogged by his controversial comments about Fabio Capello this week and, while he refused to comment on the matter, he gave the watching Italian a reminder of his talent.
"It was nice to get the goal. I want to get more goals this season," he added.
"It was a great ball from Aaron Ramsey. Hopefully the boss will play me up front now, I don't know. I could have had a couple more but the keeper made some spectacular saves.
"We're going to find it difficult over there but we're very happy with the result."
Defenders Kieran Gibbs and Johan Djourou picked up hamstring injuries during the match.
They are now doubts for this weekend's match against Liverpool, with Jack Wilshere also struggling to recover from an ankle problem.
via bbc.co.uk
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