ARSENAL'S heroes produced a £25m Champions League save.
Goals by Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott saw Arsene Wenger's men home in their crucial play-off second leg.
But Wojciech Szczesny's superb second-half penalty save from Antonio Di Natale was the real key to a 14th successive group stage jackpot.
Under-fire boss Wenger said: "There is relief and pride. Szczesny's save was the turning-point because, at 1-1, it kept us qualified and you could see that mentally it had an impact on Udinese's belief.
"I would like to say our club is in a very strong position overall. For 14 years on the trot we have played in the Champions League group stage.
"We have a new stadium, a fantastic training ground, a very strong financial situation and a very strong team.
"Sometimes you have to take a distance from the catastrophies people have predicted. We live in a society where everyone has an opinion on everything.
"I'm like someone who flies a plane for 30 years and I have to accept someone can come into the cockpit and fly it better than I do. But that's our job and we must accept it.
"Of course I'm relieved. It was a massive game for us. Overall I feel we responded in a very positive way, even at 1-0 down. It was a fantastic second half and we had chance after chance. In the end it was a comfortable win in a very important game."
Wenger has been pilloried of late following the loss of Cesc Fabregas and now Samir Nasri and his continued failure to bring in new stars.
He added: "There may be signings but I cannot give you any names. I cannot lie and say we will sign players tomorrow because it is not true. But we are trying very hard."
Wenger has often been told he needs a new keeper. But Szczesny added to his growing reputation after 58 minutes with the score on the night on a 1-1 knife-edge.
Thomas Vermaelen was pulled up for handball in the area, yet Di Natale saw his spot-kick superbly turned over by Polish ace Szczesny's left hand.
Di Natale had given Udinese a 33rd-minute lead.
But Van Persie levelled on 54 minutes and 15 minutes later Walcott darted through to seal the tie.
Goals by Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott saw Arsene Wenger's men home in their crucial play-off second leg.
But Wojciech Szczesny's superb second-half penalty save from Antonio Di Natale was the real key to a 14th successive group stage jackpot.
Under-fire boss Wenger said: "There is relief and pride. Szczesny's save was the turning-point because, at 1-1, it kept us qualified and you could see that mentally it had an impact on Udinese's belief."I would like to say our club is in a very strong position overall. For 14 years on the trot we have played in the Champions League group stage.
"We have a new stadium, a fantastic training ground, a very strong financial situation and a very strong team.
"Sometimes you have to take a distance from the catastrophies people have predicted. We live in a society where everyone has an opinion on everything.
"I'm like someone who flies a plane for 30 years and I have to accept someone can come into the cockpit and fly it better than I do. But that's our job and we must accept it.
"Of course I'm relieved. It was a massive game for us. Overall I feel we responded in a very positive way, even at 1-0 down. It was a fantastic second half and we had chance after chance. In the end it was a comfortable win in a very important game."
Wenger has been pilloried of late following the loss of Cesc Fabregas and now Samir Nasri and his continued failure to bring in new stars.
He added: "There may be signings but I cannot give you any names. I cannot lie and say we will sign players tomorrow because it is not true. But we are trying very hard."
Wenger has often been told he needs a new keeper. But Szczesny added to his growing reputation after 58 minutes with the score on the night on a 1-1 knife-edge.
Thomas Vermaelen was pulled up for handball in the area, yet Di Natale saw his spot-kick superbly turned over by Polish ace Szczesny's left hand.
Di Natale had given Udinese a 33rd-minute lead.
But Van Persie levelled on 54 minutes and 15 minutes later Walcott darted through to seal the tie.
No comments:
Post a Comment