Saturday's north London derby defeat was a miserable affair for all concerned with Arsenal, especially considering their phenomenal record at Wembley.

The Gunners had won nine consecutive outings at the home of football, including extra-time and penalties, since losing the 2011 League Cup final to Birmingham City.

But they were readily swept aside by Tottenham, and the final 1-0 scoreline thanks to Harry Kane's towering header more than flattered the visitors.

It leaves Arsenal seven points behind Spurs in the final Champions League qualification spot, and Arsene Wenger's side are now staring at another year out of Europe's premier competition.

They're left relying on the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, and the Europa League in order to save their hugely disappointing campaign.

New signings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan both disappointed at Wembley, while Mesut Ozil had a particularly quiet game.

But it was Alexandre Lacazette's shortcomings that stole the headlines, missing two glorious opportunities late on to snatch what would have been the most undeserved of draws.

The Frenchman has been in rotten form of late, and that continued as he first blazed a volley high over the crossbar, and then wasted an even better opportunity, firing wide when one-on-one with Hugo Lloris.

The £55m man really has struggled since joining from Ligue 1 side Lyon during the summer, and his manager has now offered a somewhat bizarre explanation for his poor form.

Wenger claims that the arrival of Aubameyang has blunted Lacazette, as he has been unable to cope with the level of competition he now faces up front.

"For him, one against one with the goalkeeper, he is a good goalscorer," Wenger started.

"He has gone through difficult periods before. He works hard in training, works on his finishing.

"I don't know what happened, did he not touch the ball well? It can happen, it is a fraction of a second.

"Maybe the confidence is not at its highest because he has seen a competitor coming in for him."

It's all well and good trying to defend a rather expensive signing - but the facts show that Wenger is miles off the mark.

Lacazette has actually struggled for the majority of the campaign, scoring nine times in 26 Premier League outings, with just two of those coming away from home, against Everton and Manchester City.

Furthermore, he'd found the net only once in his last ten matches in the league before Aubameyang joined, so Wenger's claim is completely wrong.

It seems as though both the manager and striker's days are numbered at the Emirates, and with unfounded excuses like Wenger has produced over Lacazette, it is hardly surprising.