Source: Telegraph
Celtic v Arsenal: Arsene Wenger hails Thomas Vermaelen impact
The Arsenal manager was remonstrating with the fourth official during the first half and was clearly concerned at the time it had taken for the officials to take action against some of the Celtic players.
“It was a fierce battle,” said Wenger. “It was a big fight and we needed a strong Arsenal performance. There were some bad fouls and the referee took some time to intervene. We got some harsh treatment.
“I am very happy with my players for coping with the physical approach of the Celtic players.”
Arsenal’s first goal was the result of a deflection off William Gallas and they almost certainly put the tie out of Celtic’s reach when Gary Caldwell inadvertently directed Gaël Clichy’s cross into his own goal.
Robin van Persie later conceded that Arsenal had “huge” fortune and Wenger agreed. “Overall we dominated the game, but Celtic were always willing and always fighting,” he said. “We scored two lucky goals. Of course we merited the luck. We made our luck. With an average performance we would not have won. We are in a strong position. The atmosphere at Celtic was outstanding, better than the Premier League.”
Wenger also had particular praise for former captain Gallas, who he said was playing his best football for two years. The good form of new signing Thomas Vermaelen has also pleasantly surprised Wenger and he believes that the left-footed Belgian has added balance to the team.
It was the first time an English club had won at Celtic Park since Nottingham Forest in 1983 and means that Arsenal will almost certainly not miss the group phase of a competition that contributes £30 million to their annual revenue.
However, Arsenal will probably be without Theo Walcott next week, who will today receive the results of a scan on his back.
Walcott suffered the injury in the pre-season friendly against Valencia, his only appearance since he played for the England Under-21s in the European Championships. Wenger described his initial assessment of the injury as “not positive”, meaning he may also struggle to recover for England’s World Cup qualifier against Croatia in three weeks.
Ensuring that there is no major upset at the Emirates next Wednesday will be Arsenal’s more immediate concerns, with Celtic manager Tony Mowbray adamant that his team must score first to have any chance.
“There is no disguising the fact it is a big ask,” he said. “If we score the first goal, be positive, it will be interesting to see what their mentality is and how they react. They would automatically think the job is done.
“If you concede the first goal, you are 3-0 down; you are not going to win 4-0. If you score, it changes everything. Hopefully, someone will get a free-kick from 25 yards and hit someone in the back and it will go in.”
