Ramsey and Arsenal after the Welshman inspired
Arsenal to a victory at Swansea.
In-form Ramsey teed up Serge Gnabry for the 58th
minute opener, before scoring his eighth goal of the
season just four minutes later to seal the win and
Arsenal's 12th consecutive victory on the road in all
competitions.
Swansea gave as good as they got during a tight first
half, and Ben Davies pulled a goal back late on, but it
proved a mere consolation as it finished 2-1 at the
Liberty Stadium.
Arsenal have now won nine on the trot and owner
Stan Kroenke's public backing of Wenger has proved
particularly timely given how they have responded
from defeat to Aston Villa on the opening day, and
the clinical edge with which they dispatched a
Swansea side finding some form.
Ramsey was as key on this occasion as he has been
throughout Arsenal's excellent run, and his mix of
poise and composure in possession was too much for
Swansea to handle.
Wenger hailed the attitude of the 22-year-old,
particularly the way he has fought back from the
horrific broken leg he suffered against Stoke in 2010.
"Let's not forget his career was disturbed by a big
injury and you need to have patience," he said.
"After that people were impatient and put pressure
on him when he had bad games, but I believe that
was the turning point, when he was questioned.
"It is always an important period in the life of a
footballer.
"Can you get back to basics and work harder? Or do
you feel sorry for yourself and give up?
"When I saw him respond how he did I always knew
he could come back that's why I kept faith in him. He
has improved his technique and does not rush his
decisions, for example his goal needed a good first
touch a and a quick finish, and he did not rush it and
showed his confidence."
The win comes 17 years after Wenger succeeded
Bruce Rioch as Gunners' boss in 1996, and he
admitted it made the result especially sweet.
"It's better than any cake," he said.
"The first half was difficult, Swansea played well,
were sharper than us and we did not play with
enough purpose.
"In the second half we played in a more compact way
and took advantage every time we won the ball and
had the chance to counter and be dangerous.
"We have seen a different Arsenal this season, we are
more clinical and playing with more purpose. We
hung on a bit in the last 15 minutes, but I felt we
deserved to win.
"It's early stages, we have only played six games,
and let's not forget we were in a massive crisis after
losing the first game as well.
"But in our job the only way to respond is on the
pitch and we did."
While Arsenal are enjoying a remarkable run of away
success, Swansea remain without a home win since
March, and manager Michael Laudrup felt a lack of
concentration during a short spell in the second half
had proved costly.
He said: "We did well in the first half, but we
defended too deep for the first goal, there were a lot
of bodies but when you are that deep one or two
quality players can create a chance like they did.
"We then lost our position. The players wanted to go
forward immediately to get the equaliser and when
you do that you leave space for Jack Wilshere, Mesut
Ozil and Aaron Ramsey and you can have problems,
they created a chance and scored the other.
"I am disappointed that for 10-12 minutes we gave it
away, we were punished in a very small period of the
game."
Laudrup also defended his decision to leave record
signing Wilfried Bony on the bench, despite the
striker already having bagged five goals for the club.
The Dane, who went with Michu up top, said: "It's
logical, we needed players in midfield. When you face
Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal they have
good midfield players so you need players in that
area."
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
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