Arsene Wenger happy with away performance
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said that he was pleased with his team's performance against Partizan Belgrade in the Champions League. Arsenal finished the game with a triumphant 3-1 victory on Tuesday night.
Cleverson Gabriel Cordova's penalty put Partizan level after Andrey Arshavin's opening goal, but two second-half goals from Marouane Chamakh and Sebastien Squillaci saved the day for the Londoners.
The Frenchman has not always come away from away fixtures in the Champions League with three points. Prior to the encounter, Arsenal had won only seven of 19 games against teams from Eastern Europe.
"You can always be punished for it in the Champions League and they came back to 1-1. After, it was a question of patience for us. They dropped a little bit in the second half, and we did physically, but in the end we got an important win.”
Prior to Arsenal's fight-back, Arshavin missed a 58th-minute penalty, just as Tomas Rosicky did during the team's game against Sunderland last week.
“That could have been costly today but you have to accept when it’s on target and the keeper stops it. It’s a bit unfortunate because it’s the second one in a row."
Keeper Lukasz Fabianski made his sixth Champions League start in the match, and Wenger was especially pleased with his contribution, especially since the Pole had been criticized for his recent performance against Tottenham in the Carling Cup.
Fabianski saved Cleo's penalty, his second of the game, five minutes from time before stretching to deny substitute Ivica Iliev.
“You have seen the Lukasz I see every day. It’s a good encouragement for him. He has a lot of talent and it was important that he could show that tonight.”
Arsenal travel to face Chelsea in a thrilling Premier League encounter on Sunday. With Manuel Almunia out with an elbow injury, Fabianski will likely make a second consecutive start for the club.
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