Wenger wary of complacency

12 April 2012

Arsene Wenger maintains Arsenal will be on their toes for the second leg of their Champions League qualifier against Steve McClaren's FC Twente, despite already having one foot in the lucrative group stages.

The Gunners battled to a 2-0 victory at the Gelredome in Arnhem on Wednesday to put themselves in command of the tie but they did not have it all their own way as goals from William Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor saw them through.

"We were a very young team and we did not lose our nerve, did not panic," said Wenger. "In the end maybe our technical superiority allowed us to score two goals - that is a massive advantage for the second leg, but we will be on our toes."

The Arsenal manager added: "They imposed a very physical game on us, with man marking all over the pitch. They did that with a lot of belief and spirit.

"They have given so much in the first half, they could not keep the same pace and tightness in their marking.

"From then on, we looked more comfortable."

McClaren - whose England reign ended under an umbrella on a wet November night at Wembley - was happy enough with the effort shown by his team.

However, without suspended striker Blaise Kufo and injured frontman Youssouf Hersi, Twente paid the price for lack of a cutting edge in front of goal.

The former Middlesbrough coach said: "You saw a performance of great spirit and Arsenal were rattled, they know they have been in a game.

"We are so disappointed, but proud of the performance. It just showed our inexperience in Europe in key moments and key occasions that we lost this game."

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