Jack Wilshere admits that Arsenal’s victory at Anderlecht was not their “prettiest performance” - but says the points are all-important.
The Gunners’ hopes of progressing from Group D looked in danger when they trailed 1-0 in Brussels with less than a minute remaining on Wednesday night.
But two goals in quick succession from Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski secured a precious win that Wilshere hopes will give the team some momentum.
"We've been through a bit of a rough stage where we haven't been winning games, so the main thing was to get the three points"
Jack Wilshere
“We feel that we've been putting in performances but not getting results,” he told Arsenal Player. “Maybe we didn't put in the performance here, but we got the result - and we'd much rather have it that way.
“We always felt we were in the game until the end, as long as we kept it at 1-0. We kept pushing and pushing - OK, they had a few chances, but that was always going to happen at 1-0.
“We had to look for a goal from somewhere and, once we got that, there was a feeling that they were dropping off a bit and we were pushing on to get that other goal. We showed great character again.
“It wasn't our prettiest performance, but we won the game and that's all that matters. We've been through a bit of a rough stage where we haven't been winning games, so the main thing was to get the three points.”
Wilshere dedicated the win to the travelling Arsenal fans, who remained in fine voice throughout an often difficult night.
“That's the best way to win [in the last minute],” he said. “We felt their frustration throughout the game. We kept getting in and then the final pass wasn't right.
“They travelled a long way and wanted to see us win the game. Thankfully we could give them that win at the end.”
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