It takes a very special player to grab the ball for a 98th-minute penalty and then choose to do a panenka to seal a dramatic victory.
It is an even more impressive show of character when you have missed your previous spot kick, and you’re not even meant to be the designated taker.
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But Alexis is Alexis - and Arsene Wenger says he thrives in moments of pressure, such as Sunday’s victory against Burnley.
“That’s him - surprising!” the manager told Arsenal Player. “It never comes exactly out of him, what you expect. But he has the nerve.
“This guy is an instinctive competitor and it’s always very difficult to predict what he will do.
“This team has an outstanding character. They are never beaten, we keep fighting. Overall I believe that is a fantastic quality.
“Since the start of the season you always feel that something will come out again. We are as well an offensive team, so that means as well that we always find goal chances. We have scored 50 goals until now, so you need some quality to do that.”
Shkodran Mustafi also scored his first goal for the club to extend his unbeaten run in Arsenal colours to 21 games, and Wenger was full of praise for the Germany international.
“I’m happy for him because he is a fighter like the team,” the manager said. “When they are rewarded that will encourage him to go again on a corner. We were quite dangerous on corners so it was good that he scored.”
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