Football
ESPN staff 8y

Mesut Ozil display vs. Dinamo Zagreb lauded by Arsenal boss Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hailed the performance of Mesut Ozil as the Gunners beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Ozil was on the scoresheet, as was Alexis Sanchez with two, to keep Arsenal's hopes of reaching the knockout stage alive.

Bayern Munich's 4-0 win over Olympiakos means the Gunners must win by two goals or a one-goal victory margin of 4-3 or higher when they travel to Greece on Dec. 9.

Wenger is quoted by the BBC as telling BT Sport: "It promises to be a very interesting game [against Olympiakos], but at least we have a chance.

"I think Mesut Ozil had an outstanding first half, he has got the taste for scoring now. I have never seen Ozil in the box so many times as in the last five or six games.

"The Europa League is not the target -- let us give everything to remain in the Champions League."

The Frenchman added in his postmatch news conference: "I believe the speed of our passing gave Zagreb a problem. It was important to not concede first.

"We have to win. Let's forget that for now and focus on Norwich on Sunday. It was important for us to respond straight away as confidence can drop quickly.

"This time we go to Olympiakos looking to qualify. It will be tough but I believe we can do it."

The Gunners led 3-0 with 21 minutes remaining and when asked why Sanchez was not substituted, Wenger said: "Because a break makes him tired.

"I would have loved to have done it in this game, but when you're 3-0 ahead you're not in a position where you need him to work back.

"We put him central up front where he could spare some energy. It's not like the flank where he has to go up and down. I tried to compromise a little bit, rest him a little bit.

"Olivier Giroud had a little problem on his ankle over the weekend so I decided to give him a little breather.

"I took Hector Bellerin off because he had a groin problem just before. Then of course I couldn't take Sanchez off. We now have five days to recover anyway.

"I don't know how important Alexis is percentage-wise, he's just a very important player."

Sanchez and Ozil cost a combined £77 million and when it was pointed out that the two record signings had swept Arsenal to the brink of qualification despite a disastrous start to the group, Wenger laughed off his reputation as a spendthrift.

"No, I don't agree with you. I invite you out one night and you will see that I like to spend money," Wenger said. "It's you, the press, who gave me that reputation, but my friends don't think that."

Dinamo Zagreb coach Zoran Mamic backed Arsenal to produce the result they need in the Greek capital.

"They played much better than in the first match against us. It's not easy to play against such quality players. When they put the pace on it was very difficult for us," Mamic said "I'm sure they can go through. They have a good chance. They are a higher quality team than Olympiakos and my opinion is that they will go through."

Information from Press Association was used in this report.

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