Wenger praises Nasri after mesmerising performance against Fulham
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger praised his team’s star midfielder Samir Nasri following his side's 2-1 win over Fulham on Saturday. The win propelled Wenger's young Gunners to the top of the English Premier League, after Chelsea
drew against Everton, and Manchester United's game against Blackpool was cancelled due to bad weather.
Nasri’s two goals at the Emirates Stadium took his tally up to 11 goals for the season. The Frenchman has been a revelation at Arsenal this season, and has been touted as the team’s best player this year. The absence of Cesc Fabregas
has allowed Samir Nasri to be more expressive in the midfield area, and he has responded really impressively.
Wenger spoke about his player’s inspired performance as he said, "It was a combination of touch, intelligence, special talent and calmness as well. He needed to be patient to finish on both occasions and he did that very well.
I'm happy because he had a game that was, at the start, only based on coming to the ball. But now he has more variation in his game: turns, runs in behind without the ball, and as well coming to the ball and taking it to his feet. So his game is improving
and he is, of course, more efficient."
Nasri was the only clinical Arsenal player on the pitch against Fulham, as the rest of the Gunners misfired on a night when they finally clinched top spot in the league. Nasri scored the opening goal of the game after a good through
ball from Andrei Arshavin. Nasri then slipped past two challenges to slot the ball past a hapless Schwarzer. Diomansy Kamara then levelled for the visitors on the stroke of half-time following a nasty collision between Arsenal defenders Squillaci and Koscielny.
From then on the game became very cagey. Just before the half-time whistle, Kamara had a chance to give Fulham the lead, but Fabianski pulled off a superb save in a one-on-one situation. It took a moment of absolute magic from
Nasri in the 75th minute to clinch the game. Robin van Persie squared the ball for the Frenchman, who beat a number of challenges and rounded the goalkeeper, before firing home from a tight angle.
Despite winning the match, Arsenal’s manager was critical of his defence in his post match comments, but he said that consistency was key, "As you see, every single team struggles to be consistent. At the moment, we are where we
are despite having lost three games. We have the spirit, we have the quality but we face tough opponents. And it will be down, as I have said already many times here, to consistency. We are far from winning the championship yet.”
Tags: