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Wenger - I’m very proud of the players

Arsène Wenger
Arsène Wenger

Arsene Wenger has expressed his pride at his players’ response to a “difficult” week.

Days after successive defeats to Blackburn Rovers and Bayern Munich, Arsenal returned to winning ways on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa.

 Santi Cazorla’s 85th-minute strike sealed the three points, but Wenger insists the result rather than the performance was of paramount importance.

“We had spirit and focus,” he told Arsenal Player. “We were a bit nervous - you could see that. They’ve shown great unity and in the end we got what we deserved.

“There was room to score many more goals, but when you go through a bad spell like we’ve had, the most important thing is to win. Many times you draw and we won here so I’m relieved and happy for the players and everybody at the Club. We have gone through some difficult times.

“I am very proud. You could see that [the players] took responsibility on the pitch. They were focused and united, and even when things went against us at 1-1, we found a response and scored. You can see there’s a good spirit in the team.”

Wenger also praised Cazorla’s performance, after the Spain international scored twice to secure a morale-boosting victory.

“Santi has been absolutely tremendous for us,” he said. “Today was a very important day for us and he delivered. Great players deliver when it matters. Santi Cazorla is a great player.”