Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Gunners qualify to last 16...

Manager Arsène Wenger said that his team did enough to ensure that they walked away with the three points in last night's Champions League match against Standard Liege.

It was an entertaining first half with the Belgian side hitting the woodwork and having a strong penalty claim turned down by the referee.

Wenger said: "The first half was good, in the second half we eased off. We just kept the result and we were in control.

"You could see we lacked a bit of urgency in the final third because we just eased a little bit off in the second half. First half was interesting with fluent moving, it was a very good first half."

The Frenchman also reflected on the importance of bouncing back from his side's defeat over the weekend, in preparation for the Premiership clash with leaders Chelsea this weekend.

Wenger added: "If you look at the last nine games we have had a very good run but Saturday [against Sunderland] was not at the requested level.

"[The defeat] is still in the minds of the players because you never forget a disappointment. But it was important to win today to prepare well for the Chelsea game on Sunday."

But Arsenal should have been at least 3-0 up before they scored their first goal, a well-taken finish by Samir Nasri. Francesc Fabregas and Andrey Arshavin both went agonisingly close before Denilson scored the second and final goal of the night.

Wenger concluded: "I think Denilson has a typical Brazilian shot. With this floating ball I think they have shorter ankles and it gives a different flight to the ball.

"It is typical Brazilian technique and I tried to analyse it many times. I could only think maybe they have a bit shorter ankle in front and they can kick the ball high up with the laces. "I have never checked it!"

With Arsenal now having qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League, the Frenchman pointed out that the club has maintained that level of consistency for the last 10 years.

The team have one last group game against Olympiacos but Wenger confirms that he will give fringe players a chance to impress in that match.

He said: "I am pleased because it is not easy [to be that consistent]. I must say in this group we were favourites, that was quite normal, and we just did the job. If you put the 10 years together you can say we have been consistent.

"I believe yes but there are two competitions in the Champions League - one is the championship and one is a cup. We move now from the championship to the cup competition and that means it is different psychologically and we go now into a period when every minute is important.

"We want of course to adapt to that. We have normally the advantage to play the second leg at home so let's get our injured players back and get in a strong position in the League, that is important as well for the confidence of the team."

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