Wenger salutes Cech’s 200 blanks

PETR CECH finally managed his 200th Premier League clean sheet as Arsenal eased some of the pressure on manager Arsene Wenger.

The Gunners goalkeeper saved his first penalty in 16 attempts at the club, stopping a spot-kick from Troy Deeney.

Cech last week publicly apologised for being at fault for both goals in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton. But Wenger last night hailed his goalkeeper, who holds the Premier League record for clean sheets, as one of the best of all time.

“Look at what he’s achieved. Consistency is always the most difficult thing in life,” Wenger said. “A record like his needs a lot of motivation and a huge level of intelligence. You don’t last for such a long time in the game if you’re not intelligent.

“Petr had to wait a while to save a penalty first of all. His situation shows how football is – in one week he went from hell to heaven. That’s how quickly it can change.”

Cech, 35, achieved 162 Premier League clean sheets while at Chelsea before joining Arsenal in 2015. The Czech

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Republic international had been stuck on 199 clean sheets for 11 games and, having reached the mark, called it “an unbelievable personal milestone”.

Before yesterday’s game, Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis addressed Arsenal supporters’ groups. Wenger’s future was not discussed, but Gazidis admitted results had not been good enough.

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