Arsene Wenger: 'I am a strong believer in Serge Gnabry. He has shown that he can turn up to this kind of game'

Published 4 January, 2014
by TOM FOOT at the Emirates Stadium

FA CUP 3^rd round
ARSENAL 2, SPURS 0

ARSENE Wenger praised Serge Gnabry after the Gunners dumped Spurs out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win at the Emirates.

The Arsenal boss said the 18-year-old had “all the right ingredients” to become a regular in the first team but he did not want to “make a superstar out of him with one game”.

Wenger said: “I am a strong believer in Serge Gnabry. He has shown that he can turn up to this kind of game and he has the quality. He is a very young boy – he is a 95 [the year he was born]. He has a good football brain.”

Goals from Tomas Rosicky and Santi Cazorla sent Arsenal through in one of the most convincing derby day performances for a decade.

Facing 4-4-2 Tottenham, the Gunners were able to dominate the midfield. Rosicky, Cazorla and Gnabry swarmed down the wings and cut in across the face of goal, with Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere always looking to set Theo Walcott free down the middle.

It was Cazorla who rocketed in an opener on 32 minutes, connecting first time with a defence-splitting pass by Gnabry who had powered in from the right.

Spurs had looked more than capable of opening the scoring and a great chance had fallen to Christian Eriksen, who forced a smart reaction save from Lukasz Fabianski. But Arsenal ended the half in total control.

Spurs were better after the restart and Emmanuel Adebayor had a golden chance on 57 minutes. After brilliantly bringing the ball down on the penalty spot from a cross with his back to goal, the former Arsenal man swivelled but could only swipe at thin air.

Five minutes later, Rosicky pounced on a Danny Rose bungle. The defender had tried a dainty pirouette on the halfway line only to stumble and lose the ball. Rosicky had a clear run at goal and lifted his shot past Hugo Lloris at the last possible moment.

Walcott was taken off late in the game and enraged the travelling fans by making cheeky-faced “2-0” finger signals from his stretcher as he was carried in front of them.

After the match, Spurs boss Sherwood said it was “just banter” and Wenger said “it did not offend anyone because he was smiling”. But journalists insisted the FA could act and possibly ban him.

Wenger said Walcott’s injury was a knee problem but it was not known how bad it was yet.

“If we lose Theo for a longer period that could be a problem – Bendtner is out for one month,” he added.

“I like what he did today, he played with purpose and commitment and had more decisiveness. He had a more fighting attitude. We controlled both sides, offensive and the defensive.”

ARSENAL: Lukasz Fabianksi, Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen (Mertesacker 45), Laurent Koscielny, Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere (Flamini 75), Theo Walcott (Ozil 83), Nacho Monreal, Santi Cazorla, Serge Gnabry.

Attendance: 59,476