Arsene Wenger hailed Arsenal’s victory over Sunderland as an “important result” but was worried they were going to lose after missing a host of chances.
The Gunners eased past the Black Cats 4-1 thanks to braces from Alexis Sanchez and substitute Oliver Giroud but they did suffer a scare when Jermain Defoe had leveled __with 25 minutes left on the clock.
But two quick-fire goals from Giroud and another from Sanchez rescued Arsenal and Wenger was relieved to leave the Stadium of Light __with all three points.
“It was a mental test when we were at 1-1. We missed so many chances, so many opportunities and I was worried we could lose, but we have shown great strength to bounce back,” Wenger told the BBC after the match.
Long way to go, plenty more hard work to be done… but it's nice to see this
To quote @MustafiOfficial, 🔙🔛🔝 – for a little while at least pic.twitter.com/rnOd0LEBRw
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) October 29, 2016
“In the Premier League at 1-1 you can lose the game but it was how we respond. Do we panic, give up, feel sorry for ourselves? We responded well and in the end it was a comfortable win.
“It was an important result for us. We had six wins, then one draw at home which was disappointing and a second draw or defeat would have been like we had dropped our level.”
On substitute Giroud, Wenger added: “The manager has an easy credit when he has quality players on the bench and you don’t need to be a special manager to make this decision. It was 1-1 and we had Giroud on the bench.”