LONDON -- Arsene Wenger has defended Olivier Giroud's celebration after his injury-time equaliser against Bournemouth and insists every Arsenal player has the same desire to win as Alexis Sanchez.
The reactions of Sanchez and Giroud toward the end of Arsenal's dramatic comeback in the 3-3 draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday have been heavily scrutinised, as the France striker spent time celebrating his late goal instead of restarting play immediately while Sanchez was furious with the team's failure to win at the final whistle and stormed down the tunnel.
Giroud's actions were criticised by both fans and pundits as they wasted precious seconds when Arsenal could have pushed for a winner against the 10-man hosts.
But Wenger, who said earlier on Thursday that Sanchez's reaction was "normal" and simply a show of passion, insisted it was unfair to question whether Giroud had the same level of desire as the Chile forward.
"Giroud is a winner as well. Giroud is a fighter, he's a winner," Wenger said. "I can understand Giroud as well because he thought the game was lost, it's 92 minutes, you score and you don't lose. We can understand that. But ideally, you would not waste time anymore, but I can understand his response. He scores goal after goal and he scores important goals. And he gave two assists on the night. So you can understand as well that he's happy."
Sanchez had started Arsenal's comeback from 3-0 down by heading in the Gunners' first goal in the 71st minute, with Lucas Perez scoring the second before Giroud's late equaliser.
The France striker then ran to the sidelines to show off a new goal celebration mimicking his spectacular scorpion-kick goal against Crystal Palace on Sunday, while his teammates were eager to get play started again to search for a winning goal.
At the final whistle, Sanchez showed his anger at the result by throwing his gloves onto the ground before heading straight down the tunnel while most players stayed on the pitch to applaud the traveling away supporters.
But Wenger said that everyone was as frustrated with the draw as Sanchez.
"They care as much as he does, don't worry," Wenger said. "I think everybody has his way, and the players are frustrated. There was no celebration in our dressing room. Everybody was disappointed that we didn't win the game. So there is no hierarchy there of intensity of desire to win at that level. Everybody wants to win."
The former Barcelona player had also been seen yelling at teammates Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during the game, but Wenger downplayed that as well by saying "it's part of the game."
"You had the same last night [between Chelsea teammates Diego Costa and Pedro Rodriguez against Tottenham]," Wenger said. "I don't look too much at how people talk, I look at how much they want to win. In this job I have seen a lot between players.
"The only difference now is that it's all analysed and all on camera. And in fact, much less happens than before. Today everyone is camera conscious a little bit. Before in the corridors, up to the game or after the game, a lot more happened. Today nothing happens any more ... When something happens like that, people are surprised. But for me, it's part of the game."
Wenger plans to rest Sanchez for Saturday's FA Cup game at Preston North End to give him a short break, a decision he said was made long before Tuesday's game.
"I always planned in my head, no matter what happens, in January he will need a breather," Wenger said. "Because what we forget, he will go away on the international games, when they travel to Chile. And when they go to Chile, sometimes they play 2,000 miles away, travel back, come here and play the next day again. At some stage they are human beings, we have to give them a breather. Even mentally and physically, because at the moment he is a bit jaded. You can see that he's tired."