Wenger bangga dalam kekalahan

Masih boleh berbangga semangat yang ditunjukkan oleh anak buahnya

LONDON : Arsene Wenger percaya Arsenal boleh berbangga dalam saingan kalah mati Liga Juara-Juara dalam kelompok 16 pasukan untuk kemenangan mereka ke atas AC Milan.

The Gunners, yang dikatakan berada dalam krisis untuk bangkit hanya beberapa minggu yang lalu, tampil dekat dengan kebangkitan dalam bersejarah eropah menentang pendahulu Serie A kerana mereka mencatat kemenangan 3-0 di Stadium Emirates.

Tiga gol dari Laurent Koscielny, Tomas Rosicky dan Robin van Persie penalti menandakan Arsenal separuh pertama begitu bertenaga dan pantas, bagaimanapun separuh masa kedua Arsenal begitu terdesak setelah kekurangan pemain dilanda kecederaan berlari keluar.


Wenger, yang tanpa Abou Diaby, Mikel Arteta dan Yossi Beanyoun, memberitahu Sky Sukan 2 HD selepas bertemu Milan:

"Mereka hanya boleh berbangga dengan prestasi mereka".

Fantastic

"I felt we were a bit short. We had no midfielders at all on the bench"

"We suffered a little bit when we got tired in the second half. We were a bit more fatigued. I'm sure we would have scored two or three more goals in the second half.

"But to put the performance in is fantastic spirit and restored some pride after our first tie. Unfortunately we go out."

The victory builds on the dramatic Premier League wins over Tottenham and Liverpool which have seemingly rescued Arsenal's season.

Focus will now be solely on finishing in the top four of the domestic table to ensure the club are back in the Champions League next season.

Momentum

And Wenger hopes his squad have momentum, as he said: "Overall, we keep our winning run going. That is important."

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the star of the show for Arsenal and the 18-year-old won the penalty from which Van Persie scored the third goal against Milan.

But the teenager, who played in a more central position than his usual wide role, did not finish the match after picking up what looked like a hamstring injury.

And Wenger revealed Oxlade-Chamberlain almost did not feature at all due to illness on the eve of Tuesday's match.

"He was sick last night," Wenger said.

"We were not sure that he could play. He had 'flu. In the end, we decided to check him at the warm-up.
 "I felt he was outstanding."

- By Sky Sport