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‘We had no choice but to fight back’

Wojciech Szczesny says Arsenal had “no choice” but to mount their morale-boosting late fightback against Everton.

Having been beaten 3-0 at Goodison Park in April, a repeat result seemed to be in the offing as the Gunners trailed by two goals at the interval on Saturday.

However, Aaron Ramsey’s close-range strike and a 90th-minute equaliser from Olivier Giroud secured a well-deserved point for Arsene Wenger’s men.

"It would have been very disappointing if we had come here and lost again without putting up a fight - so we had no choice in the second half"

Wojciech Szczesny

Szczesny was satisfied with the character his side showed and believes it will provide a big boost ahead of Wednesday night’s game against Besiktas.

“In the end it is probably a good result because with 15 minutes to go everyone thought we had lost it,” he told Arsenal Player. “It was a disappointing first half and we conceded two soft goals, which is not good, but we showed great character to come back and get a result.

“It would have been very disappointing if we had come here and lost again without putting up a fight - so we had no choice in the second half. We came out and pressed them high and got the two goals.

“It is important that we move on quickly now and prepare for Wednesday night. Hopefully it will be an exciting game, it is certainly an important one for us so hopefully we will get a result.”