Wednesday, 22nd October, 2014
Former Manchester United first team coach Phil Neville believes that Arsenal's character was clear to see this evening in the Champions League, as the Gunners beat Anderlecht 2-1 in Belgium.
Arsenal fell behind in the vital group game when Andy Najar scored for Anderlecht in the 67th minute, taking advantage of the Gunners' inability to create chances.
However, Arsene Wenger's men stuck at their task and were rewarded with two goals, one in the 89th minute from Kieran Gibbs and the second in the 91st minute from Lukas Podolski.
Neville accepts Arsenal had problems, but he believes their character saw them through.
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"If Arsenal had have lost tonight the knives would have been out for Arsene Wenger", he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"In these games you have to play to the final whistle. As I said before, the young players do lose concentration and that is when the quality shines through.
"The character and spirit in the team is obviously there. But for 80 minutes I was thinking it was a poor performance."
Neville also admits he has no idea why Wenger brought striker Danny Welbeck off in the 75th minute, with Arsenal chasing the game.
"I couldn't understand the substitution of Danny Welbeck.
"Arsenal were very lucky in the end because they didn't create that much."
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