Danny Welbeck’s last-gasp header gave Arsenal a crucial win against league leaders Leicester City and have managed to reduce the deficit to two points. Jamie Vardy scored from the spot in the first half following Nacho Monreal’s foul on Vardy inside the box which forced Referee to award a penalty for the Foxes.
But Theo Walcott who came on as a substitute for Coquelin scored brilliantly to reach parity, and a last minute header from Welbeck settled the game in Arsenal’s favour.
Arsene Wenger spoke about his delight in winning over the league-leaders and also praised the mentality of players as they worked hard to win the game. Wenger also spoke highly about the effort each player put up and agreed that it is a massive win, provided they were one goal down at the stroke of half time.
“It was as well a mental test for us because to find yourself down 1-0 at halftime to a team who defends so well, you need to keep going in your head.” Wenger spoke to the media. “And we came back in the second half with relentless energy. And we took as well all the risks to win it. We knew a draw was not good enough. In the end, it paid off, down to the mental desire of the team to give absolutely everything to win it.”
The Frenchman also praised his forward Danny Welbeck, who was out of action for 10 months due to an injury, but showed no glimpses to rust as he scored the winner.
“Danny Welbeck is a great player, and you never know in our job if somebody else had come on would he have scored or not. But everybody is extremely happy for him because he has been out for 10 months, that is an eternity for a player.”
He also pointed out that the substitutions played the lion part in the most important game of their season, so far.
“That shows you, at that level, the bench plays a big part. When you dominate the games, you can bring on strikers like Walcott or Welbeck, it changes completely your opportunities.”
Arsenal have a string of tough tests awaiting them, as they face Hull City, Barcelona and Manchester United in the span of 8 days.