And Santi Cazorla netted an added-time victor from the penalty spot after Southampton captain Jose Fonte was adjudged to have fouled Olivier Giroud.
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Lifting the Gunners into sixth place in the early Premier League standings on seven points, the overall notion is that Arsenal are still far from their best so far this season.
“I like to come to Paris, it’s my country and a city I love”.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that new signings Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi were taken aback by the break-neck speed of the English Premier League (EPL) during debuts for the club.
“I’ve been focusing on next game”.
“He has recovered quite well”, said Wenger, who is expected to pair the 31-year-old France worldwide with new signing Shkodran Mustafi, who plays for Germany, in central defence.
Olivier Giroud is expected to make his first start of the season up front for Arsenal tonight, while centre-half Laurent Koscielny was passed fit to play despite significant bruising around his right eye after being kicked in the face against Southampton.
“I was used to much younger squads when we didn’t have the resources”. He is determined to win Group A – also including FC Basel and Ludogorets – this season, which would mean that Arsenal would be seeded for the last-16 and would not have to play a group victor. However, he struggled to get involved in Arsenal’s attack for much of the game before being taken off after an hour, and Wenger acknowledged the newcomer from Deportivo La Coruna had been nervous.
“For us this is an important match, but there is no symbolic desire to win”.
“They will be continue to be the dominant team in France but they lost more than a player with Ibrahimovic”, Wenger told Arsenal Player. “The players do not know the team”. Perhaps at the end of the first half we dropped back, but it was a good game and my players have been bright.
“I have a lot of confidence in the work we’re doing”, said Emery. “We are expecting tough opposition when we get there”.
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Should the swelling still be a concern over the coming days, Wenger will be faced with the proposition of fielding youngster Rob Holding alongside Mustafi against the French Champions.
