Friday 8 December 2017 08:30, UK
Arsene Wenger insisted he respected those Arsenal supporters who stayed away from their Europa League victory over BATE Borisov on Thursday.
The Gunners, already assured of progressing as winners of group H, hammered the Belarusian champions 6-0 in front of a record-low Emirates stadium crowd.
While the official figure was 54,648 it is understood less than 30,000 fans were present to see Arsenal run riot with an emphatic victory.
Mathieu Debuchy, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Mohamed Elneny all got on the score-sheet while Denis Polyakov scored an own goal and Olivier Giroud converted a penalty.
The likes of Borussia Dortmund, Napoli or Celtic are now waiting in Monday's draw for the round of 32 as Wenger - toasting his 700th win as Arsenal boss at the full-time whistle - defended the decision of the stay-away supporters.
"I think you forget about that once you are on the pitch," he said when asked about the low attendance.
"It's true that you prefer the ground to be full, but tonight there was not a lot at stake on the competitive side. No matter how many sit in the stands, you have to give them what they expect - and that's what we did.
"You respect the decision of your fans. They knew we were top of the group anyway and you could basically expect that.
"You have looked around last night in the Champions League in game number six, I have seen many grounds not full, or half empty. That is a bit the problem of the group stage."
