Danny Welbeck strikes late as Arsenal grab draw with Hull City at Emirates Stadium

DANNY Welbeck spared Arsenal’s blushes with a late equaliser as gallant Hull City nearly pulled off one of the upsets of the season so far at the Emirates.

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DANNY Welbeck spared Arsenal’s blushes with a late equaliser as gallant Hull City nearly pulled off one of the upsets of the season so far at the Emirates.

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Danny Welbeck made the difference..

The Gunners, with a makeshift defence and missing Mesut Ozil because of a knee injury, took an early lead through Alexis Sanchez.

However, Hull hit back with a controversial equaliser from Mohamed Diame, as Arsenal claimed a foul in the build-up, and then took the lead at the start of the second half through Abel Hernandez, who had only been playing after an injury to Nikica Jelavic in the warm-up.

Arsenal, who lost Jack Wilshere to what could prove to be another ankle problem, pressed to get back into the match, but looked to have been frustrated until Welbeck slotted home in the first of six minutes of added time.

They then almost snatched the three points at the death through Kieran Gibbs, who was denied by stand-in Hull goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger felt his side had only themselves to blame for only picking up a point.

“We got a point but we had 80 per cent possession. It is a very disappointing result,” said Wenger.

“We were unlucky with the referee on the first goal, but on the second goal we can only blame ourselves.

“We came out of the dressing room with a lack of focus and gave them the lead straight away. It was difficult.

Mohamed Diame got Hull level.

“I cannot fault the effort or the heart that we had in the game. The defensive concentration was missing on the second goal and when you make it difficult at that level you cannot give the goals away like that.

“Even in the last five minutes we had three clear-cut chances on goal. It is difficult when we play against teams who are physically stronger and organised - it was 10 against 10 in one half.

“This was the kind of game where we couldn’t afford to concede another goal when we came out at 1-1. We know that - we have enough experience to know that and we cannot give a goal away like we did.

“But we put our heart and effort in until the last second and I cannot fault the effort, the spirit and the work rate of the team.”

Arsenal have now not won in the Premier League since September 20 and are 11 points behind leaders Chelsea in sixth.

Hull City manager Steve Bruce rued his side’s penchant for conceding late goals afterwards but admitted he was ultimately very pleased to come away from north London with a point.

“I am satisfied with a point, but I think that is four times this season we’ve conceded in the last minute,” he said.

“Today I didn’t think we were going to concede because we were comfortable, but we ran out of juice badly because the international players had been away and we made a few mistakes.

“I thought we were going to hang on to what would be a great win for us.

“However, I have been here before with teams where Arsenal have played the reserves and we have been beaten by six or five and gone away with our tails between our legs, so we have done extremely well to get a point.”

Santi Cazorla and Arsenal got very frustrated.

Originally published as Danny Welbeck strikes late as Arsenal grab draw with Hull City at Emirates Stadium