Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger declined to single out Manuel Almunia for blame after the error-prone keeper committed two blunders as the Gunners were beaten 3-2 at home by West Bromwich Albion.

The Gunners’ failure to resolve their hunt for a world class No.1 in the summer came back to haunt them at the Emirates on Saturday as Almunia was at fault for two of the Baggies goals.

Wenger however refused to point the finger at Almunia.

“You can have question marks over many players if you look at the performance, especially defensively,” he said. “Many players made massive mistakes.

“You could single out many players. Overall it was a poor team performance and we have to analyse why and respond well.”

Almunia gave away a first-half penalty when he tripped Peter Odemwingie but he saved Chris Brunt’s spot-kick.

Odemwingie opened the scoring before Almunia allowed Gonzalo Zara’s near-post shot past him. The Arsenal goalkeeper then rushed out too soon for the third when Jerome Thomas tapped in against his old team.

Samir Nasri pulled two goals back but Wenger was disappointed with the performance.

He added: “I believe this game was an exception. Until we played West Brom we had good games. I didn’t recognise my team.”

West Brom boss Roberto Di Matteo felt his team were worthy of maximum points.

“I would say we deserved it,” said the former Italy midfielder. “The way we played, we created chances, scored goals and played very well.”