And they took the lead in the Premier League, although Leicester City can take it back with a win against Chelsea on Monday.
Advertisement
“I still believe we are capable of winning the next game”. He is questioned sometimes but finally the numbers get people to realise he is a good player.
Agbonlahor must do more to break back into the team, according to the French manager who has opted for other attackers ahead of the 29-year-old since his return from a calf injury. He is not spectacular individually but he is a very efficient player for the team. “He is also mentally very strong”.
Olivier Giroud converted an early penalty for his 50th Premier League goal before Mesut Ozil set up Aaron Ramsey to sweep in another as Arsenal beat bottom-place Aston Villa 2-0. “But overall for us it was a great week”, said Wenger who heaped special praise on Arsenal’s second goal and Ozil’s contribution. Don’t worry. I had as well a few bad weeks already. “I was a bit anxious today (Sunday) because we had given a lot on Wednesday night and then we came back very, very late on Thursday morning”.
“In the first half we were in control but in the second half the legs had gone a bit”.
Aston Villa boss Remi Garde was refreshingly honest in admitting to BBC Sport that Arsenal were the better side and fully deserved their win, but rued the manner in which his side fell apart in the first half. Earlier this season his contribution against Spurs was the sixth game in a row in which he had assisted a goal, breaking the record for the most consecutive assists in a Premier League season.
Leandro Bacuna then threatened with a curling effort which drifted just over after being gifted space on the edge of the box, but Villa’s failure to score while on top would cost them as Arsenal improved once again. “I know it’s only one but it felt like three and in this moment there was an explosion (of emotion)”.
“But it is not completely a lost cause”.
Following last week’s goalless draw at Carpi, Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side has won just one of their last five matches and lie in seventh place, 11 points adrift of city rivals and leaders Inter Milan.
“We’ve got world class players and it will be two fantastic games that we are looking forward to”, he added.
Advertisement
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson marked his first start since August with a 21st-minute opener, but Craig Dawson punished an error by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to equalise on the half hour before Jonas Olsson headed the visitors in front in the 73rd minute from Chris Brunt’s corner. The Reds opened the scoring, but still lacked the killer edge to put West Brom away, which gave the Baggies enough room to take their time and snag two goals.
