Arsene Wenger praised an "exceptional" Alexis Sanchez for settling Arsenal's nerves with his early goal as the Gunners took control of third place with a 2-0 win against West Brom on Thursday.
Arsenal were playing in front of thousands of empty seats at the Emirates as angry season ticket holders boycotted the game, but Sanchez single-handedly lifted the mood by scoring with a solo effort from outside the box after just six minutes. He then added a free kick in the 38th to take his tally to five goals in his last four games.
While the win probably won't help the Gunners catch leaders Leicester -- or win back the disenchanted supporters -- it put them back above Manchester City into third place and was a perfect response to two straight disappointing draws.
And Wenger acknowledged that the pressure on the team meant Sanchez's early goal was crucial.
"Certainly it helped to focus more on the way we played [rather] than being anxious about the consequences of the result. I think it was important and overall I think it helped the team," Wenger told Sky Sports.
"It looks like he is back [to his best], sharper and more confident. Especially in the first half I think he was exceptional."
"Technically we played very well. Overall the only regret we have tonight is maybe we should have scored more goals," Wenger said. "But the quality of our game was good, as it has been in recent games. But we did not always make the maximum points with the quality of our games."
The Frenchman acknowledged that the team enters the final part of the season with plenty of regrets but insisted that all they can do now is focus on finishing strongly.
"Of course we have regrets, in recent games we had two draws where we should have won the games every time. And when you drop points like that in the end you pay for it," he said.
"It was important for us to win, let's try to win the next one. ... We know we have a good chance to [secure a top-four spot], but it's far from done."
0 comments:
Post a Comment