Cesc content with Villarreal result Thursday, April 09, 2009
Arsenal looked to be struggling against a rampant Villarreal side in the first half of their Champions League quarter-final tussle but they bounced back to secure a priceless 1-1 draw away from home.
The result will give Arsene Wenger’s men a slight advantage when the two teams collide again in the second leg at the Emirates next week, and Cesc Fabregas and Eduardo praised the team’s resilience to fight back after a difficult first 45 minutes.
“It was quite an even game as both teams had chances to score, but playing away from home, having two players injured in the first half and conceding so early on, the draw is not a bad result for us at all,” he said during the post-match interviews.
“We did not start the game well. We knew that Marcos [Senna] has a great shooting ability and that he could score the kind of goal that he did, yet we did not close him down.
“But in the second half, we stepped up a gear and we were able to start playing our own game and we improved.”
The Spaniard then went on to call on the Gunners faithful to show up at the Emirates in throngs to help the team past the Yellow Submarine.
“We have fans who are always with us in the important games. Their support will be important, but we are aware that Villarreal are a great team, although it will be solely up to us to advance [to the next round],” he professed.
Meanwhile, team-mate Eduardo, who was not in the squad due to a groin injury, said, “I believe that the result is fair and correct, because Villarreal were stronger in the first half but we were in it in the second.
“Physically, we were better and we had chances to win the game at the end. But we have scored away from home and that is very important.
“Now, we must finish off all the good work we did today in our own ground. However, we are aware that we have a really tough team in front of us and it will be difficult to win.”
