Wenger proud of anxious Arsenal's fighting spirit

Arsene Wenger conceded that Arsenal looked short
on confidence in their hard-fought 2-1 win over
Middlesbrough on Monday.
Goals from Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil were
enough to give the Gunners all three points at the
Riverside Stadium, despite Alvaro Negredo having
levelled the scores shortly after half-time.
The victory ended a run of four consecutive away
losses in the Premier League for the Gunners and
took them back to within seven points of the top
four, having played a game fewer than fourth-
placed Manchester City.
Although the Frenchman accepted that the display
was far from perfect, Wenger was thrilled with the
level of commitment from his players, having seen
them crumble in a 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace last
time out.
"I felt we were focused and committed. You could
see we did not play with full confidence, but overall
we really wanted to win," the Arsenal manager told
Sky Sports.
"Second half, we missed the final ball when we
could maybe have added one or two more and they
created chances with crosses and set-pieces.
3 - Three of Arsenal's last four away
league wins have been against the sides
currently in the relegation zone.
Expectations.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 17, 2017
"Middlesbrough gave everything. It's one of their
last chances to stay in the league.
"There are still some chances where maybe we
could have played better with some long balls, but
the focus and commitment was there.
"It was a testing point for us, mentally [at 1-1]
it was a moment when I felt that 'now we'll see
where we go'. You could see the players have a
good mentality, they wanted to win the game and
they responded."
Wenger experimented with a back three of Gabriel,
Laurent Koscielny and Rob Holding, and the 67-
year-old explained that he had grown concerned
about the Gunners' susceptibility to conceding from
direct approach play.
"I felt it added a bit more stability on the long balls,
we've recently been punished with that," he said.
"We let them have the ball a bit more than we're
used to. Against Palace and West Brom, we had 70
per cent of the possession and we lost.
"We want to have the ball, but sometimes, when a
team lacks confidence, a change in system can
help them believe in something different."
This young Gunner will probably never
forget the late Easter present he's just
been given...
Class from you, @Alexis_Sanchez
pic.twitter.com/0VWhluIUVS
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) April 17, 2017
Boro boss Steve Agnew was hugely frustrated to
take nothing from the match, but insisted that his
players showed they have a chance of surviving,
despite the six-point gap between them and safety.
"We are bitterly disappointed with the result, but
the players gave everything they had. We couldn't
ask more of them," he told Sky Sports.
"I felt we might get the second goal after Negredo
scored. The ball just wouldn't drop in the box for
us. We put them under tremendous pressure.
"We just have to keep the season alive. We need a
win and I'm confident we'll get it.
"This group don't know how to give in. They will

never, ever stop."