RVP: Patience paid off for Gunners

The Greek champions had goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis to thank for preventing Arsenal chalking up a big score in a one-sided contest at Emirates Stadium.Olympiacos were eventually undone with 12 minutes to go when Eduardo set up Van Persie before Andrey Arshavin made sure of the win when he netted a cheeky backheel."The boss told us to be patient [at half-time] and our moment would come, and so it did," said Van Persie, who admitted his team had come up against a formidable opponent in the shape of veteran Nikopolidis, who denied Thomas Rosicky and Cesc Fabregas among others."He's a good goalkeeper," Van Persie added to Sky Sports. "I think he's 38 or something, so he's got a lot of experience."He had a really good game tonight."Asked about how he felt the Gunners' season was shaping in general, the Holland international replied: "Quite well. We have played eight or nine games and lost two, and every other game we won, so it's not too bad."We're still not there yet, but we are on our way."Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger hailed the performance of his players as "outstanding" but conceded it was difficult to see so many chances go begging."I believe we played a great first half and we had plenty of chances," said the Frenchman, who later this week will become the longest-serving manager in the history of Arsenal."You always want your team to take every chance but it is not always possible."But I'm encouraged as well because to dominate the game like we did at that level is something outstanding."Of course it's frustrating that we didn't take complete advantage of it, but it's very positive."Wenger was particularly pleased his players had enough in the tank to win the game late on despite their tough Premier League over Fulham at the weekend."We had a very physical game at Fulham on Saturday, and I think in the end the legs were a bit heavy in the second half, but we maintained because we wanted so much to win the game," he added.Two games now follow against Champions League first-timers AZ Alkmaar, who have yet to win in Group H, and Wenger has called on his players to make swift work of their progression to the knockout stage."We now have two games against Alkmaar, so let's try to qualify quickly," he said.

Source: Team_Talk