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Champions League: Arsene Wenger praises Arsenal's spirit after dramatic win at Anderlecht

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Arsene Wenger praised his players for coming back from 1-0 down to beat Anderlecht 2-1 in Belgium, and put themselves in a strong position to qualify from

Arsene Wenger praised Arsenal's spirit after two late goals saw them win 2-1 at Anderlecht and remain on course for the Champions League knockout.

Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski scored inside the final two minutes to give the visitors victory and a five-point cushion on Group D's bottom two clubs with three games to play.

Borussia Dortmund lead the group by three points, and it appeared Arsenal would finish the night in third when Andy Najar's second-half header put Anderlecht in front.

But two good chances for a second goal went begging before the dramatic finish in Belgium, and Wenger afterwards told Sky Sports: "We kept going and managed to score two good goals because we had the spirit and refused to lose the game.

It's part of our job to fight to the last second and we know by experience in the Champions League many goals are scored in the last five minutes
Arsene Wenger

"But Anderlecht played well tonight and you see that this country produces top-class players.

"Slowly in the second half we opened ourselves up, were less cautious defensively and got caught, and after that the crucial point was when we were 1-0 down and they couldn't take advantage of their chance to score the second goal."

The late turnaround leaves Arsenal well-placed to make the next stage of the competition for the 15th straight season, and Wenger said: "We are in a strong position.

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"It's part of our job to fight to the last second and we know by experience in the Champions League many goals are scored in the last five minutes. We took advantage of that tonight."

Arsenal have 11 points from eight Premier League matches following a 2-2 draw with Hull at the weekend, and Wenger claimed before the Brussels trip his side are not getting the results they deserve.

Asked about the important of the Anderlecht result he said: "When you have the ball, the ball, the ball and you don't score sometimes the confidence drops. It was important to win after a disappointing result on Saturday."

And on Arsenal's chances of overhauling Dortmund to win Group D he said: "It's in our hands. Dortmund will be a tough opponent but you never know. Let's first qualify then we'll see how far we can go."

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Paul Merson says he's concerned with Arsenal's back line, and said had Anderlecht been slightly better at finishing they would have won the game.

Match-winner Podolski has started just one League Cup game for Arsenal this season, and Wenger said: "He is frustrated and I understand that of course, but he is important as well. He showed that tonight and he will be important in the coming months."

Goalscorer Gibbs joined his manager in commending Arsenal's perseverance, and the England left-back believes the victory could define his side's season.

"Credit to the boys - we didn't give up," he said. "It wasn't easy to come here and we definitely made a statement now about what we want to do.

"We kept going and it was difficult but we've managed to get the result in the end which we wanted.

"The boys are working really hard every day and we are determined to do well for the team and everybody is fighting for each other.

"We just want to keep going and we've got another big game in two days (against Sunderland on Saturday) and we have to switch on to that now."

Anderlecht boss Besnik Hasi claimed referee Carlos Velasco Carballo missed a foul on Steven Defour in the build-up to Podolski's winner.

He said: "There was a huge foul and the referee has to take responsibility for that, but this is what happens with a smaller club sometimes.

"The performance of my team was nearly perfect, apart from in the last three minutes. We should have won this game. Arsenal were never in it until the end. We tried to score the second goal, but when you don't they can catch you."

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