Arsene Wenger lauded the performance of Santi Cazorla after the Spaniard inspired Arsenal’s 2-0 win at Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City.
The midfielder scored Arsenal’s opening goal from the penalty spot after City captain Vincent Kompany had tangled with Nacho Monreal during the first half. Olivier Giroud added Arsenal’s second, nodding in Cazorla’s free-kick, and the diminutive Spaniard’s display warranted special praise from the Arsenal manager.
“Santi Cazorla has been superb for a while now but today he was maybe even more influential,” Wenger said. “The way the whole team defended gave him a lot of the ball, and when you give him the ball you always have a chance to relieve pressure. [In our performance] you felt the great unity, solidarity, togetherness and compactness in our team.”
Wenger was delighted with the discipline his players showed at the Etihad Stadium and believes they should take great belief from their impressive victory.
“We played high in their half and were deep in our half and it worked,” he said. “We were well-disciplined, well-organised, had a good solidarity and overall we kept a good control of the game. We could even have done better many times on counter attacks.
“We had that consistent discipline for 90 minutes which is needed in big games. We looked in control away from home and we finally got a big win in a big game away from home. We almost had it at Liverpool [a 2-2 draw at Anfield last month], but [against City] we did it. What is pleasing is that reinforces the belief of the team. To feel that you can do well is very important.”
The Arsenal manager also praised his central-defensive pair, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny, after they ensured Sergio Aguero, City’s top scorer with 14 BPL goals this term, was unable to make an impact in his first start for six weeks.
“Sometimes, the fact that you have to find solutions internally is a blessing,” Wenger said. “People are very quick on their judgment, you forget that we had many defenders out all season, as you saw [against City] the centre-backs are a good partnership and it takes time to get back to that level.”
source: premierleague.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 