Arsene Wenger praised Mikel Arteta and Per Mertesacker after making their Arsenal debuts against Swansea City. Andrey Arshavin scored the only goal of the match to secure a win for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, capitalising on a mistake from Michel Vorm five minutes before half-time," writes Stewart Coggin.
The goalkeeper's throw hit the back of his own defender Angel Rangel and Arshavin was quick to react, curling the ball into the net from a tight angle.Of Wenger's five recent signings, Arteta and Mertesacker were the only starters, although Yossi Benayoun was introduced from the bench as Arsenal edged home.
"Mertesacker was calm and composed - he just needs to adapt to the pace of the game," said Wenger. "He looks very intelligent in his positioning. Arteta played very well, especially in the first half. In the second half it was more difficult for him but you can see he will give us some technical security that this team needs and he wants to play like we play.
Wenger added: "It was vital for us to win the game. I think we started quite well but slowly the nerves took over. We played with the handbrake on and were restrictive in the second half. It is not often that we pass the ball back to our goalkeeper when we are at halfway.
"You could see in the second half that we just wanted to get over the line and we didn't make a mistake. Swansea make it difficult for you because they keep the ball well and on the wings they are very quick. Overall they have the basics of a very good Premier League team but they just can't score at the moment."
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