Arsene Wenger has again hailed the character of his Arsenal side as they came from behind to beat Ludogorets 3-2 on Tuesday night.
The victory sent Arsenal through to the last 16 of the Champions League for a 17th successive season, but they had to work hard for it.
The Gunners found themselves two goals behind in the opening 15 minutes in Sofia, but goals from Granit Xhaka and Olivier Giroud had them level at the break.
The second half did not produce as much entertainment until Mesut Ozil was played in by substitute Mohamed Elneny with three minutes remaining and showed great composure to slot home and secure a 3-2 victory.
With group A rivals Paris St Germain winning in Basle, the pair are already assured of qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League – with their meeting at the Emirates Stadium later this month now essentially a play-off for top spot.
Mesut Özil scored Arsenal’s winning goal to send them through to the Champions League last-16 AFP/Getty
Arsene Wenger praised Mesut Ozil for providing the “optimum solution” after the Germany playmaker’s late winner against Ludogorets sent Arsenal through to the last 16 of the Champions League for a 17th successive season.
Wenger praises Ozil
And Wenger, who said on the eve of the game that topping the group is a “prime target” for Arsenal, said Ozil’s winner showed just how good he is.
“I would say great players make the right decisions in the game situations they face,” Wenger said of the man who scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 home win over Ludogorets a fortnight ago.
“They take the optimum solution. To me, it didn’t look like the optimum solution. You wanted him to take the chance earlier. But he had enough skill to prove he was right.
“When the ball was in the back of the net, it was clear it had been the optimum solution.”
Wenger has spoken plenty this season about a new maturity among his squad, which remains unbeaten since Liverpool triumphed at the Emirates on the opening weekend of the campaign.
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“We showed great character and belief to get back into the game. We got the goals before half-time and that helped the team-talk.
“They have some top quality in their team and caught us with two counter-attacks and we paid the price for that but we never gave up.
“We are on a strong run at the moment and it was important to keep the momentum going tonight and we come through tonight with a win.”