Mesut Ozil proved me wrong with Arsenal winner, says Arsene Wenger

  • Published
Mesut Ozil (right) scores Arsenal's winner in BulgariaImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Mesut Ozil scored a hat-trick against Ludogorets in the game at the Emirates in October

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger thought Mesut Ozil had made a mistake by trying to outfox the Ludogorets defence before scoring a superb winner on Tuesday.

Ozil scored the Gunners' third as they came from two goals down to win 3-2 and reach the Champions League last 16.

The German chipped the ball over the keeper before beating two defenders and slotting the ball into the empty net.

"To me it didn't look like the optimal solution, but when the ball was in the net I thought it was," said Wenger.

"The great players make the right decisions in the game situations they face. They always make the optimal solution.

"You wanted him to take maybe his chance earlier, but at the end he had enough skill to prove that he was right."

Arsenal top Group A with 10 points, the same number as Paris St-Germain, and nine ahead of both Ludogorets and Basel with two games remaining.

They were trailing the Bulgarian side 2-0 after just 15 minutes on Tuesday but drew level before half-time through goals from Granit Xhaka and Olivier Giroud.

Ozil, 28, scored the winner in the 87th minute - his fourth goal against Ludogorets in two matches.

The Gunners host French champions PSG on 23 November before travelling to Switzerland to face Basel in their final group game on 6 December.

Around the BBC

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.