Football
ESPN staff 9y

Jack Wilshere: Arsenal's Champions League win at Anderlecht not pretty

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has said the last-ditch Champions League win at Anderlecht "wasn't our prettiest performance" after goals from Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski clinched the points.

The Gunners struggled to find momentum throughout a difficult night in Brussels, only for two goals in the final two minutes to seal a dramatic 2-1 victory on manager Arsene Wenger's birthday.

"We've been through a bit of a rough stage where we haven't been winning games, so the main thing was to get the three points," Wilshere told Arsenal's official website.

"We feel that we've been putting in performances but not getting results. Maybe we didn't put in the performance here, but we got the result. We'd much rather have it that way.

"We always felt we were in the game until the end, as long as we kept it at 1-0. We had to look for a goal from somewhere and, once we got that, there was a feeling that they were dropping off a bit and we were pushing on to get that other goal.

"We showed great character again. It wasn't our prettiest performance -- but we won the game, and that's all that matters."

Wilshere praised the north London club's travelling supporters, saying the players had understood their growing sense of frustration until the two late strikes.

"They travelled a long way and wanted to see us win the game," he said. "Thankfully, we could give them that win at the end."

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