Andrey Arshavin: Sunderland was a difficult game on a difficult pitch

Arsenal Russian midfielder Andrey Arshavin described his emotions after the victory against Sunderland in a postmatch interview to his personal website.

«The place in the standings our team occupied ahead of this matchday didn’t correspond to the ambitions of Arsenal and our fans. We understood that we couldn’t lose any more points. When preparing for the upcoming clash, we kept in mind the Sunderland’s successful run of after Martin O’Neill took over at the club. Ultimately, it was a difficult game on a difficult pitch: the ball was constantly bouncing off ... The game ended, the club got three points, plus another victory in the history of Arsenal.»

«The history of Arsenal is closely linked to the name of Arsene Wenger. Does he deserve the credit for today’s victory?»

«Two subs came on the pitch and helped the team, right? This means that the coach made the right decision.»

«A couple of minutes before the winning assist, there was a moment when you lobbed the ball, but Van Persie failed to find the net. Both attacks were started by Vermaelen, who passed to Arshavin on the flank. Did you work on that in training?»

«This season we don’t spend a lot of time with Thomas together on the pitch. Therefore one can’t talk about it being «homework». It was a fairly basic move: he acted according to the situation, giving the ball to a partner to develop the play.»

«As a result, the Arsenal legend Thierry Henry pass snatched the victory following Arshavin’s assist. A fairytale?»

«A true story (smiles) Everything combined: hard work, skill and our desire to win. We are very happy that Thierry scored the winning goal again.»