Arsenal showed character, says Chambers

Arsenal star Mathieu Flamini believes that he has proven a point following his display against Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday, according to reports from the Daily Star.

Arsenal were in front, however, with 26 minutes on the clock when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain found space 25 yards out and his fierce drive was parried by Michel Vorm, but only into the path of Flamini who clipped home.

The equaliser finally arrived via an own goal in the 56th minute when a cross from Chadli was sent into the back of the Arsenal net by Calum Chambers.

Yet they toughed out a victory against a Tottenham team that also featured wholesale changes, with Mathieu Flamini scoring a stunning late volleyed victor for his second goal of the evening.

Dier said: “We did well in this competition previous year and we said before the game that we wanted to go one step further, so it’s disappointing – and it’s obviously more disappointing being against Arsenal”.

The Argentine is keen to move ahead from the loss and focus on their next Premier League game on Saturday against table-toppers Manchester City, who beat Sunderland in the League Cup.

“Everybody took their chance, but it’s not the only chance because I rotate a bit from game to game and I felt that it was needed because we’ve given a lot recently in three days with 10 players”.

Wenger revealed he had told Flamini he was free to leave before the start of the season, but he was impressed with the way the veteran decided to stick around and fight for his place in his second spell at the club.

“It was the first time I’ve scored two times in a game”.

Flamini, who is now in his second spell with the Gunners, said he had to prove a point after making his first appearance over a month.

After successive defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and then Chelsea, Wenger was pleased to see his players’ spirit remains intact.

“He’s a fighter Mathieu, a victor as well. They’ve always supported me, they’ve all been behind me and they’ve played a big role in my career”.

“I don’t regret [my selections] – you can make mistakes, remember when [Diego] Maradona missed a penalty?”