“It was a good night because we did the job and played at a high pace”, added Wenger.
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Wenger believes, Cech believes it, and we all believe it to!
Arsenal’s victory over a lacklustre Dinamo made the 2-1 loss they suffered in Zagreb in the opening tie feel even more galling but Wenger can sense redemption, and a place in the Champions League’s second round for a 16th season in succession.
Zagreb began to sit back and make things hard for the Gunners, but their stubborn resistance was broken in the 29th minute as Mesut Ozil arrived to meet Alexis Sanchez’s cross, before guiding a header into the corner to give Arsenal the lead.
That was the best the visitors could muster as their Champions League hopes came to an end, but Arsenal’s continue for at least another fortnight. When they lost the ball, they all knew what to do. We needed to do the job and Bayern needed to do the job.
“He is just such an important player because at the moment all we have as strikers are Olivier Giroud and Sanchez, and Giroud had a little problem with his ankle over the weekend so I chose to give him a breather”.
Despite the looming game at Olympiacos, Wenger is now keen to turn his attention back to the Barclays Premier League after seeing his side miss the opportunity to go top of the table following a defeat at West Brom on Saturday.
The last group encounter between the two teams at Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece on December 9 is therefore touted to be a mouth-watering affair with both Arsenal and Olympiacos determined to make the cut.
The Gunners cruised to a 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday, while Bayern Munich thumped Olympiakos 4-0 to keep Wenger’s men in contention heading into the final round of group fixtures. “We wanted to get an early goal and not have to reach the 70th minute with the game tight”, scorer Thomas Mueller said.
Bayern have 12 points, Olympiakos have nine, Arsenal are on six and Dinamo have three. It’s not easy to play against such quality players.
The second came from Alexis with 20 minutes to go, meeting Joel Campbell’s defense-splitting pass and rounding goalkeeper Eduardo to ensure a comfortable conclusion for the hosts.
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On the evidence of this performance, they seem to have every chance of doing just that.
