How Wenger has rescued Arsenal’s season with 3-4-3 formation – Koscielny

Wenger switched to a back three in the recent win at Middlesbrough and they played with the same system in Sunday’s 2-1 FA Cup semi-final win over Man City.

Both sides had chances to win it in the closing stages of normal time, notably City, who had dominated the first-half and nearly snatched the win late on when Yaya Toure hit the post and Fernandinho rattled the bar.

Sanchez struck in the 101st minute at Wembley on Sunday, sealing the Gunners’ comeback after Nacho Monreal had equalised following Sergio Aguero’s opener.

The teams finished deadlocked after 90 minutes and it took an extra-time Alexis Sanchez goal to send the north London side through to a clash with local rivals Chelsea.

“That’s why I’m very proud of the players”.

“In the first half maybe we were a bit cautious, accepting to be dominated, and then we became stronger and stronger. Big games give you the confidence that you can win and that is the most important thing in our job”.

We have gone through a very hard period and we faced some adversity that made the situation more hard from inside as well. I will talk one day about that.

“I had no approach from Marseille and we want to keep Olivier Giroud at the club”, said Wenger.

“Overall it was a great team performance, not only technically but mentally”. Some days we did it but results show who you are, they could be better, could be worse.

“We just stick together as a team”, the Welsh midfielder added.

“We showed a united response, not a divided response”.

“We gave a good answer to people who questioned that (spirit)”, he said.

Goalkeeper Cech, while relishing the prospect of a final showdown against his former club Chelsea, said: “Obviously the FA Cup is at the end of the season so there’s a lot to happen before we play that game”.

“We did absolutely everything”.

Chilean Sanchez then grabbed the victor by stabbing the ball past City keeper Claudio Bravo to send fans and teammates alike into delirium to keep alive Arsenal’s hopes of finishing a frustrating season with a trophy.

“We arrived here and created more chances than the opponent. Today we are sad but tomorrow we have to stand up and finish the games we have still to play”.

“I don’t have regrets about the team”.