Arsene Wenger says Arsenal earned the right to beat Manchester City because they delivered a collective performance full of spirit.
First half goals from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud, both courtesy of Mesut Ozil assists, put the Gunners in a commanding position at half time and even though City rallied in the late stages through Yaya Toure’s stunning 82nd-minute strike they held on to close the gap on top side Leicester City to two points.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the boss hailed his side’s courage: “I believe it was a very intense game going from one side to the other at a very high pace.
“Both teams gave everything and on our side I believe that we’ve shown spirit, organisation, brilliance and all together they gave us the three points.
“You can see there’s an exceptional life in this team and when we had not the legs anymore we relied on the spirit and that got us through in the end.
On winning the title, he continued: “Every win strengthens your belief. When it’s a big game like that even more so.
“What we want is to take care of our performances and of our spirit because, as I told you, I think we have something really special there and [we want to] keep our desire to improve. You realise you earn the right to win in these games and that’s what we did today.
“[A collective performance] is exactly what we got. You could see when the legs went, Ozil was sick all week but they still keep going. Campbell finished very tired, but they still keep going. That’s fantastic to see.”
“Our belief is stronger. We have played with many, many very young teams [in the past] and we have a bit more maturity in the side. You could see in these games it comes out. When we were under pressure we could deal with it.
“I believe as well we are very ambitious. You see this league is very difficult, so that makes you cautious as well. Today we did alright, let’s now manage to get the resources out again on the 26th [December, against Southampton].”
The boss also reserved special praise for midfielder Ozil, who took his total tally of assists for the season to 15 – six more than any other player in Europe’s top leagues.
“I’m long enough in this game to know that to find his quality you have to drive a long way.”
Fantastic result!! Glad that Ozil is starting to win those moronic pundits over and get the recognition he deserves. Onwards and upwards!
It’s the injury situation that’s a big worry.
Since the same players are starting most games during this busy festive schedule, it’s a big worry about further injuries.
we showed we’ve got balls, to shorten it up. stuff of champions i say.
We were ready to send you to the insane asylum Arsene. You’ve played a blinder Sir
Hahaha…Yes Boss, you really had to drive a long way
Just had a look at owen and savage on youtube saying how much better sterling is compared to özil. I also farted at that very moment.
What about that Ozil, nickin’ a livin’!
We won all the second balls, put in tackles and battled and fought…Epitomized by Joel Campbell just before Girouds second goal. Was knackered and was going down a blind alley but battled and fought regardless.
That’s the most efficient win I’ve seen from us in a very long time.
Clinical, professional, calm, solid.
All up until the 82nd. Then, although tense, no panic as in yesteryear.
This team looks the real deal.
Great position to be. Nobody saw this coming after 5 games – where City seemed to be running away with the league. For all their stars, there is still some brittle about them – they’ve dropped 19 points in 12 games.
We can do it! COYG
While everyone is going nuts over Pep, Mou and all the rest of them, in Arsene we trust.
Where is Mesut Ohno? Disappeared or changed name? Me too said a couple of times last year that I expected more from Ozil. Well, Ozil is giving me so much more. His class stares in the eyes.
Seems Cohesion has lost his place to Spirit. Thanks Wenger what a signing.
Glad own goal was forced to retire.
Own Goal is now getting a deserved rest on the bench, and I wouldn’t mind Own Goal coming off the bench to score the odd goal here and there – it would definitely be nice to see Own Goal score the winning goal in injury time against the chavs! 😀
And lets not forget Organisation and Brilliance too. I believe that Organisation can rotate well with Cohesion and they would both play an important role in the second half of the season, which would, hopefully, be a title run-in!
More than anything it was great to see the amount of fight in the team today. City had a very physical side out and tried hard to bully us but we didn’t moan at the ref or sulk, we dug in, fought back and got on with it. Great to see the team working so hard in the second half.
I think the reason Wenger didn’t play Campbell before was because of his stamina. He always gets subbed at the 70th mark. For the festive period I think Walcott, Campbell, Ramsey, and Flaming will endure since they haven’t played that much this season.
Ohhhhh, what a pleasure to watch! Tense, cagey opening Theo defensive lapse followed by Theo Thunder, then the pre-half score instead of fall. Well played, all!
It was a fantastic team performance. Everyone put in a huge shift! Despite the injuries and the present thinness of our bench, I have every faith that ARSENAL will win the league this year.
We’ll have Alexis back for the FA Cup vs. Sunderland – watch out Sunderland! Arteta will be back by then as well. Then over the next month or so, we’ll get someone back just about every week. By the time Barcelona rolls into town we’ll have a full, fit squad and we’ll be on a massive winning run. They won’t know what hit them!
Amen to that!
Sadly, it appears possibly not. Le Prof said “Sanchez will be back for around the 10th January”. We play Sunderland on the 9th (I believe the reschedules for TV have already been made).
But he should be back for the trips to Anfield and Stoke and the game againsy Chelski.
Clever play at the end by Giroud, getting treatment and taking the sting out of their onslaught. I wouldn’t have been happy if it had been against us. But it’s mature play. Who knows? It may have stopped them scoring and won us the game. Ooh to be.
Two issues worried me before the game for us. 1) Walcott’s tracking back or lack thereof. This he did and we were fairly comfortable left side but for a couple of ocassions (De Bruyne and Navas…which was a bad touch by Gibbs who I thought was a bit insipid) 2) Yahya Toure. He lumbers through the game and for the most part was dominated by Flamini and Ramsey but he only needs minimal space to shoot with no back lift and score their goal. Other than that, it was a fantastic performance on our part full of hunger, confidence. We… Read more »
Bear with me on this one. Big huge organizations like to tout how the whole organization helps play a part in a successful season. Perhaps this year is the year our overall stability plays the key role, or the x-factor, since we know it’s not our luck with injuries. All the management upheaval at our rivals barring Leicester City, can’t help those teams’ preparation and motivation. If we can manage our thin squad at the moment, add some bodies in the next month, and don’t overlook anyone, we can take this title!
I cried at the final whistle:)
Hearing Wenger say how tired everyone is does make me a bit wary for the next couple of weeks, especially the Bournemouth game. Let’s hope Alexis and Ox can take some of the pressure off the current midfield and forwards.
Everybody has to play the same amount of games. Everyone is knackered. We just beat city without cazorla, Sanchez and coquelin, no Danny welbeck or jack Wilshire on the bench. Unreal.
Haha loved this by Wenger. You were expecting a third humble quality, but no. ‘Spirit, organisation….’
And ‘togetherness’, arsene? ‘Resilience’? ‘Mental strength?’
No. Brilliance. We were brilliant.