All the poor man did was take off Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was making his first Barclays Premier League start, was by far Arsenal's best player in the first half and also set up Robin van Persie for the Gunners' equaliser in the second period.
Wenger's decision to substitute the 18-year-old for Andrey Arshavin in the 74th was greeted with boos from the Arsenal faithful, but Wenger said: "I can understand that the fans are upset about the substitution, especially when it doesn't work, but he (Oxlade-Chamberlain) had started to fatigue.
"He was sick in the week. Arshavin is captain of the Russia national team.
"You have an 18-year-old kid making his first Premier League start and a player who's captain of his country and they are querying the substitution? Let's be serious.
"I've been a manager for 30 years and have made 50,000 subs. I do not have to justify every decision I make. I stand up for it."