Arsene Wenger: 'He watched the ball and decided early what he wanted to do, and he did it with belief, so I had hope'

Published: 23 September, 2015
by STEVE BARNETT at White Hart Lane

Capital One Cup, Round Three
SPURS 1, ARSENAL 2

UNLIKELY Arsenal hero Mathieu Flamini roared that he had “proved people wrong” last night (Wednesday) after scoring twice to dump Spurs out of the Capital One Cup.

The midfielder was rumoured to be heading for the exit door at the Emirates Stadium during the summer, with fans agreeing that the 31-year-old no longer warranted a place in the squad. Even manager Arsene Wenger admitted that he’d told Flamini that he faced “a wait” for games if he stayed at the club.

Flamini hit back in the best possible way at White Hart Lane as he capped a man-of-the-match performance with two well-taken goals, the second a stunning 20-yard volley. 

“I’m happy for the team because it was a tough game, and personally I'm happy too,” said Flamini. “I’ve heard many things in the press, many people have been talking about me, but tonight I’ve proved everyone wrong. People were talking about me leaving, but I’m still here and I’m working hard."

Flamini broke the deadlock after 26 minutes, pouncing to score from close range after Michel Vorm had parried Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s effort into his path. Spurs equalised 11 minutes after the break when Calum Chambers turned Nacer Chadli’s low cross into his own net. The hosts were then unlucky not to take the lead when a stunning acrobatic effort from Harry Kane was cleared off the line by Kieran Gibbs.

The night, however, was to belong to Arsenal, and in particular Flamini, who scored the winner with a superb first-time volley from 20 yards.

It was a finish that Wenger admitted he didn’t know Flamini had in his locker. “You cannot predict a goal like that,” he said. “He watched the ball and decided early what he wanted to do, and he did it with belief, so I had hope.”

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino said his side were “unlucky” to lose a game that they had “dominated”. “It was a good game, and we gave a good performance. There were a lot of positives to take from it,” he added. “But I feel bad for our supporters because they were brilliant tonight.”

Arsenal were rewarded for knocking out their north London rivals with an away tie against Sheffield Wednesday in the fourth round, which will be played at the end of October.

SPURS: Vorm, Trippier, Fazio, Wimmer, Rose, Dier (N'Jie, 85), Carroll, Townsend (Heung-Min Son, 67), Eriksen, Chadli (Alli, 75), Kane.
Substitutes not used: Lloris, Walker, Vertonghen, Winks.

ARSENAL: Ospina, Debuchy, Chambers, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Flamini, Arteta, Campbell (Sanchez, 67), Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Walcott, 89), Giroud.
Substitutes not used: Ozil, Monreal, Bellerin, Iwobi, Macey.