With Arsenal laying siege to Kasper Schmeichel’s goal, Wenger threw on Danny Welbeck, who had played just an hour for the Under-21s as he strives for fitness having not played a senior game since last April, and the former Manchester United man was on hand to glance home Mesut Ozil’s free-kick in the fifth minute of added time. “We would need to win three, they would need to lose three”. The match was full of fouls so why send off a player?
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Fellow substitute Theo Walcott had cancelled out Jamie Vardy’s first-half penalty as the Gunners provided another twist to a roller-coaster season.
And Wenger, whose side are looking for their first league crown in 12 years, admitted a loss would have severely hampered Arsenal’s chances.
“Welbeck told Sky Sports: “[In the] dying seconds, we kept pushing, had chance after chance. “It’s the first time in my career I’ve missed so much football”. It has been a roller coaster for me, a hard moment and my family and friends know what I have been through. “That could be massive”.
Both Arsenal and Leicester could be unchanged as the title challengers do battle at the Emirates on Super Sunday. “Let’s not forget he has not played one minute for us, he has just played 45 minutes in the under-21s”.
Welbeck was sold to Arsenal FC in a £14 million deal in the summer transfer window of season 2014-15, and scored 8 goals in 34 appearances for the Gunners in his first season. “It was a pivotal moment because the mathematics meant it could be eight points or it could be two points and that is a great”. “That is a great change”, he said. But we had a bad spell where we couldn’t win for four games and have now won two on the bounce. We are only in a good position, but the league is not finished and we have to keep going.
And their efforts paid off when Danny Simpson committed two bookable offences in quick successions and referee Martin Atkinson waste no time in sending him off in the 54th minute. They deserve it. They made a fantastic performance today.
Arsenal’s second-straight victory boosts their title hopes after they had previously gone four league matches without a win.
“We are still top of the table, got two points more – we must carry on and smile”, he said. “We lost to our opponents – we must say well done”.
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Speaking to BBC Sport, Arsenal goalkeeper Cech said: “We had to concentrate in the final stages because any counter-attack was becoming more and more risky as we searched for the victor”.
