Arsene Wenger hailed his improved Arsenal side after they closed in on second-place Manchester City, saying his side look a different team to the one which kicked off their Premier League season.
The Gunners ran out 3-0 winners over West Ham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday to move to within a point of the defending champions.
Theo Walcott, recalled to the starting XI in place of the injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, had missed a couple of early chances before goalkeeper Adrian was beaten on the stroke of half-time by a fierce angled drive by Olivier Giroud, which cannoned in off the far post.
West Ham regrouped for the second half and would have been good value for an equaliser, but Arsenal finally broke them down again to score two goals in the final nine minutes and send Wenger's side into next week's Champions League tie away to Monaco with renewed hope of an unlikely victory.
"We just have to keep going,” said the Frenchmam.
“We have won eight of the last nine and we are stronger today than we were at the start of the season.
"We dropped off in this league because we won one of six at the start of the season. Today we are a different team.
"We suffered a lot from the post-World Cup fixtures, players came back and they weren't ready to play."
Wenger takes Arsenal to former club Monaco on Tuesday night needing to overcome a 3-1 deficit from the first leg, something which has never been done in the Champions League before.
However, his side’s flowing performance against the Hammers, which included a slick passing move for Giroud's goal, gives the manager hope of overcoming the odds, insisting his men will 'give absolutely everything'.
He added: "We have come out of a good week because we have played at Manchester United [in the FA Cup], we have played the London derby today and we need the belief to prepare well for Monaco. Let's do that and after we will see.
"If you have no belief you have no chance. We have to believe that we can do it.
"This time Monaco are favourites so we have to go there, give absolutely everything."
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét