Arsene Wenger hails 'outstanding' Mesut Ozil after Arsenal see off Napoli in the Champions League
Arsene Wenger hails 'outstanding' Mesut Ozil after Arsenal see off Napoli in the Champions League
The Gunners manager praised his side in the wake of a thoroughly impressive display against Rafa Benitez's side
Top Gunn: Mesut Ozil has been deadly in a red shirt so far
Paul Gilham
Arsene Wenger described Arsenal's first-half display as one of the best he had ever seen from his men after they annihilated Napoli . Majestic Mesut Ozil
scored a world-class first and set up the second for Olivier Giroud as
the north Londoners ran riot against Rafa Benitez's side.
"Certainly at home it's one of the best halves we have played for a long time," Wenger said afterwards.
Pressed
on the last time his team had produced such devastating football he
said: "I would be tempted to say when we last played Barcelona here [in
February 2011, when Arsenal won 2-1].
"But when you play at home in the Champions League the team comes and tries to play as well."
The win was all the more impressive as Napoli, second in Serie A, were tipped as the most serious threat to Arsenal's chances of reaching the knockout stages.
Instead the Gunners sit top of Group F on six points ahead of back-to-back matches against Borussia Dortmund. Pointing the way: Wenger masterminded another good win on Tuesday
Paul Gilham
Hailing Man of the Match Ozil, Wenger added: "He had an
outstanding first half, where you had everything that you want to see
from a great player.
"Individual skill, team play, finishing, final ball. You just had to sit there and enjoy it.
"I loved him at Real Madrid as well. I thought he was great. We are just lucky to have got him.
"I
believe he enjoys playing football with his partners. He has integrated
very quickly with the team mentality. He has come at a period when we
are doing well and that has made it easier.
Napoli were without
injured striker Gonzalo Higuain, who missed the chance to come up
against the club that turned down the chance to buy him in the summer.
But
Benitez insisted the Argentina striker would have made no difference
and admitted Arsenal had produced a "perfect" performance.
"A
player like Higuain we would miss a lot but when you play against a team
that does everything perfectly you can miss one player or two players
but it doesn't do a lot," he said.
"If we played the same game
with a different line-up it would have been the same and I don't think I
should have changed my team."
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