Wednesday 11 February 2015 08:26, UK
Arsene Wenger backed Leicester to avoid relegation after seeing his Arsenal side forced to work hard for a 2-1 win.
Laurent Koscielny and Theo Walcott put the Gunners 2-0 up, but Andrej Kramaric pulled one back and the visitors continued to create plenty of chances in an impressive performance.
Wenger’s side held on to take victory and move up to fourth - for 24 hours at least - but the Arsenal boss had words of encouragement for the side propping up the Premier League pack.
“We played against a very good team,” he said. “We’re surprised that this team is bottom of the league – I knew that before the game.
“We could see again today that they’re a strong side, and if they can not panic and keep believing in what they are doing, I believe they will get out.
“I feel Nigel Pearson does a good job there. It’s amazing that suddenly you hear that they want to get rid of him. I think if they’re strong and keep together they have a good chance.”
The Gunners’ victory was their fourth in five matches and has seen them move right back into the heart of the battle for Champions League qualification.
Things looked comfortable in the opening 45 minutes as the likes of Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott made life difficult for the visitors, but Pearson’s men rallied as Arsenal’s passing game seemed to desert them after the break.
“I believe we had some good moments in the game, and good spirit”, Wenger added.
“We did fight until the end but we dropped physically in the second half, and we at 2-1 became a little bit nervous. But it was important to win
“We were comfortable but still a bit exposed on counter attacks. We were really dominating in the second half, then at 2-1 suddenly it was much more difficult for us to keep the ball.
“They are physically very strong, very quick and you could see they have good players.”
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