Aaron Ramsey fired a glorious last gasp winner as "lucky" Arsenal's super-subs sunk
Marseille last night.
Ramsey struck in injury time after his fellow substitutes Johan Djourou and Gervinho combined to set up a glorious victory and put Arsenal on course for the Group stages.
Arsene Wenger joked victory was down to a bit of good fortune but insists they have earned their luck and is hoping it could turn their season around.
Arsenal boss Wenger said: "That makes me lucky. We haven't always been lucky
in this competition.
"We lost a goal late in Dortmund and we lost the Champions League final in the final minutes with 10 men. That's what happens when faced with opponents who take their chances.
"It was a great finish. When you see Aaron Ramsey in front of goal you know you have a good chance to score. He is becoming a real goalscorer.
"We have made a little step forward but we have to be humble. We are a team who has to continue to grow. We have to show in the next game at home against Marseille. That game will be very important.
"This will help our confidence. If you look back at the last five or six games, you will see only one defeat. We are slowly getting there. This result will help."
Wenger also praised his players' resilience after a difficult first half when Marseille threatened but his side is now in pole position.
"We left it very late. We had a difficult start," said Wenger. "Marseille pressed us well. We didn't find our fluency. But we took over second half.
"Marseille weren't dangerous in the second half. They defended well but in last 15 minutes we created chances and were rewarded because we kept going and got a very important victory."
The one downside for Arsenal was a knee injury to stand-in right-back Carl Jenkinson.
With first-choice Bacary Sagna out for three months as his broken leg heals, they have a real injury worry at that position.
Marseille boss Didier Deschamps fumed: "It's an enormous disappointment to lose like that. A point would have been good for us. It's a cruel disappointment. When you lose a game like that in injury time it's even harder to take.
"I was angry Ramsey was alone at the back post. Ramsey had all the time he needed to control the ball and score. I asked them to be cautious so I was very angry."
Written By John Cross
No comments:
Post a Comment