Arsene Wenger admitted Arsenal's 4-1 thrashing of Galatasaray in the Champions League was exactly what he needed after a traumatic week.
Just four days ago Wenger had cut a forlorn figure as he hurried onto a club train home from Stoke to avoid the foul-mouthed abuse of fans frustrated by the club’s dismal 3-2 defeat at the Britannia Stadium.
Wenger’s position was once again the subject of much debate and another disappointing performance in Istanbul on Tuesday would have heaped further pressure on the under-fire Arsenal manager.
But the North Londoners silenced Wenger’s critics, for a few days at least, with a vibrant display featuring one of the goals of the season from Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey.
Lukas Podolski’s early opener was followed by a double from Ramsey, including a brilliant 30-yard volley, before Podolski sealed the points in second half stoppage-time after Wesley Sneijder’s free-kick reduced the deficit for Galatasaray.
It was exactly the response Wenger needed, even though Arsenal were forced to settle for a second place finish in Group D after Borussia Dortmund got the point they required against Anderlecht to finish top.
“We gave a strong response from the start,” Wenger said. “We looked dangerous every time we won the ball back, we had good penetration, we scored good goals and until half-time I feel we were very strong.
“In the second half we suffered a bit more for two reasons – some players had not enough competitive games and especially I had to take two players off. But, overall, it was a strong performance.”
Those midfield changes saw Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini withdrawn with hamstring and calf complaints respectively at half-time.
Wenger explained both were precautionary measures and that they should be fit to face Newcastle United at the weekend, which will be a particular relief when it comes to Ramsey.
Ramsey’s stunning second goal even led to applause from the notoriously partisan home fans, but Wenger claimed he would have been unhappy with the midfielder’s decision to shoot from such a long way out if he had missed.
“Honestly, I felt at the time when he took the decision that it was not the best decision. But he proved me wrong,” Wenger said with a smile.
Wenger was also surprised by the ease with which his side won – at one stage looking like they could get the six-goal margin of victory that would have overhauled leaders Dortmund on goal difference.
“I did not think it was possible at the start of the game, but at half-time yes,” Wenger said.
“But after we had to take Ramsey and Flamini off, it was too much for us to hope that we could score six.
“We were closer to conceding one or two more in the second half and we defended very well.”
Arsenal’s second-place finish means the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and defending champions Bayern Munich could now await them in Monday’s draw.
That is a daunting prospect for Arsenal, who have failed to progress past the last 16 since 2010, but Wenger preferred to concentrate on the busy Christmas schedule rather than worry about the draw.
“Look, let’s wait for the draw, prepare well,” Wenger said. “We can focus now on the Premier League.
“It was my 180th game in Champions League tonight, we won away from home and now 15 consecutive years in the last 16. That, I believe, is an achievement.
“Let’s focus on the Premiership until the end of February and the FA Cup as well.”
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The lowdown
Bohemian Rhapsody
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee
Rating: 3/5
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE DETAILS
Director: Milan Jhaveri
Producer: Emmay Entertainment and T-Series
Cast: John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee
Rating: 2/5
Company%20profile
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
%3Cp%3E%0DElena%20Rybakina%20(Kazakhstan)%20%20%0D%3Cbr%3EOns%20Jabeur%20(Tunisia)%20%20%0D%3Cbr%3EMaria%20Sakkari%20(Greece)%20%20%0D%3Cbr%3EBarbora%20Krej%C4%8D%C3%ADkov%C3%A1%20(Czech%20Republic)%20%20%0D%3Cbr%3EBeatriz%20Haddad%20Maia%20(Brazil)%20%20%0D%3Cbr%3EJe%C4%BCena%20Ostapenko%20(Latvia)%20%20%0D%3Cbr%3ELiudmila%20Samsonova%20%20%0D%3Cbr%3EDaria%20Kasatkina%E2%80%AF%20%0D%3Cbr%3EVeronika%20Kudermetova%E2%80%AF%20%0D%3Cbr%3ECaroline%20Garcia%20(France)%E2%80%AF%20%0D%3Cbr%3EMagda%20Linette%20(Poland)%E2%80%AF%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESorana%20C%C3%AErstea%20(Romania)%E2%80%AF%20%0D%3Cbr%3EAnastasia%20Potapova%E2%80%AF%20%0D%3Cbr%3EAnhelina%20Kalinina%20(Ukraine)%E2%80%AF%E2%80%AF%20%0D%3Cbr%3EJasmine%20Paolini%20(Italy)%E2%80%AF%20%0D%3Cbr%3EEmma%20Navarro%20(USA)%E2%80%AF%20%0D%3Cbr%3ELesia%20Tsurenko%20(Ukraine)%3Cbr%3ENaomi%20Osaka%20(Japan)%20-%20wildcard%3Cbr%3EEmma%20Raducanu%20(Great%20Britain)%20-%20wildcard%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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India squad for fourth and fifth Tests
Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Shaw, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur, Vihari
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