Wenger thrilled by Arsenal spirit

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has praised the commitment of his side after they came from behind to beat Newcastle 2-1 on Monday.

Hatem Ben Arfa fired Newcastle ahead in the 14th minute at Emirates Stadium, but they held the lead for less than a minute before Robin van Persie levelled for the home side.

Arsenal had to wait until the dying moments to make sure of the points, when Thomas Vermaelen was found by a Theo Walcott cross to score the winner from close range in the 94th minute.

Wenger was delighted with the win, which moved his team to within one point of third-placed Spurs in the English Premier League.

“What beat them was our relentless effort to win. In the end, we won it,” Wenger told Sky Sports.

“I never thought we wouldn’t win. I said to my assistant that we needed one more attack and we would score.”

“This was a game of absolute commitment on both sides.”

“Newcastle are a good team and it needed something special to beat them.”

“Newcastle tried to slow us down but we get that many times. We got five minutes extra time and that allowed us to win the game.

“We won in the last minute against Sunderland, Liverpool and now Newcastle. That shows we have absolute commitment.”

“They are refusing to lose. That’s fantastic. The team has to be credited for an excellent performance again.”

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was bitterly disappointed to concede so late, and said his team were worth at least a point.

“Last minute defeats are galling. Unfortunately our right-back, Danny (Simpson), got injured and we couldn’t replace him as we had already made three subs,” Pardew said.

“The sort of effort we put in tonight, it was a really committed performance to try and get something against a side that are really in form.”

“The pushed and they pushed and unfortunately we didn’t have the legs left at the end to see it through.”

“We’ve defended well. We could have a bit more threat and keep the ball a bit better. But it’s difficult, they are a tough team.”