Obscene gesture could cost Wilshere

England midfielder Jack Wilshere could face a Football Association probe after appearing to make an obscene gesture during Arsenal's painful 6-3 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Television pictures clearly showed a frustrated Wilshere make a one-fingered gesture during the second half of a disastrous game for the Premier League leader, which now leads City by only three points.

There was also an angry exchange between teammates Per Mertesacker and Mesut Ozil as they left the field, although Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger laughed off that confrontation.

"That's the Germans!" joked Wenger.

"They will sort that out between themselves, don't worry about it."

However, the FA is likely to look upon Wilshere's behavior with less humor and, even if referee Martin Atkinson fails to mention the incident in his report, the ruling body has the power to charge the England international with improper conduct.

Liverpool's Luis Suarez served a one-match suspension for a similar offence two seasons ago.

"I didn't see that," said Wenger of Wilshere's actions. "I don't know if he did it. If he did it and he's banned, we will have to accept it."

Surprisingly, given that City has now scored 31 times in its last six home games and also scored six against Tottenham Hotspur, as well as four against Manchester United, Wenger refused to accept that Manuel Pellegrini's side is Arsenal's primary rival for the title.

"I don't know; we will see," said Wenger when asked if the defeat was significant.

"They are one of the teams to beat, but not more than any other team. We have played against Everton, which is as good as City; we have played against Southampton, which is as good as City.

"What hurts me more is we had the opportunity to put City nine points behind and they get three tonight. That's very difficult to swallow because that was a team that was not unbeatable."

Wenger's claims rang hollow, however, given City's degree of dominance, with Pellegrini's squad getting goals from Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo and David Silva, a Yaya Toure penalty and two from impressive Brazilian Fernandinho.

(China Daily 12/16/2013 page23)