Hazard is having a ball again
EDEN HAZARD was full of praise for manager Maurizio Sarri, despite starting on the bench.
Hazard said: ‘It’s better to be on the pitch than watching on the bench, but the boys when they are playing they did well so I am just happy for the win.
‘He’s the kind of manager who wants the ball, to control the ball. I can’t say a wrong thing about that. I want to play and have the ball at my feet. We have players who can do something magic. He is a great manager, like we had before.’
Defender Marcos Alonso said: ‘I think in the first half it was half and half, we started dominating and then lost a bit of space. They played better at the end but in the second half we were the better team.’
Sarri said: ‘Very important. In this period for us it’s not easy to gain points. Three points is an important target for us, we did very well for 75 minutes but, inside that, 15 minutes were horrible. It was very, very difficult because we lost the distances between the players and we were unable to cover the lost balls and press like a team, so we were really in trouble.
‘But the players were really very good because at 2-2 it was not easy with Arsenal.
‘In the second half we did very well also mentally. In this moment they [subs Hazard and Mateo Kovacic] are not able to play the full 90 minutes. Also I think to play 25-30 minutes when the intensity of the game is going down is better. I think Mateo can become a great player.’
Arsenal boss Unai Emery said: ‘We want to win. This is always the way but it is clear that defensively we suffered three goals but also we had chances to get more goals. The result is 3-2 but we we got more chances to score.
‘In the first half we are creating chances and for that I am happy. Our reaction is good, we had chances and it’s good by half-time.
‘The second half we need to continue this control, but I think we don’t push and keep possession like we did. In the second half we played with two midfielders, 19 and 21. They improve. I am happy without the result.’