WE’VE TURNED THE CORNER, SAYS RAMSEY

ARSENE WENGER believes last night’s win over AC Milan proves his beleaguered players are up for the fight of turning Arsenal’s season around. The Gunners halted a slide of four consecutive defeats with the 2-0 win and took a big step towards the Europa League quarter-finals. The result comes as a huge relief to Wenger after a dismal run that has left the manager facing serious questions about his job. Likewise, Arsenal’s players have been accused of showing a lack of fight. But Wenger says victory at the San Siro proves his players are not just going through the motions. The Arsenal manager said: ‘That’s what we wanted, at some stage you need to respond together with a good performance. That’s what we did tonight. The result will lift the belief in the team a little bit. ‘Because when you lose three games in six days it’s always very difficult. ‘We had our backs to the wall tonight and we had to respond. That’s what we did. We needed to find mental resources. ‘We want to show fighting spirit. We lost the Carabao Cup final against a team (Manchester City) that is dominating English football and we have to accept that. That does not mean the team has no spirit. You have to show that until the end of the season.’ Aaron Ramsey hopes the win can spark a revival. ‘We showed tonight we have plenty of characters in this team,’ said the Arsenal midfielder. ‘It’s never easy to come here and play Milan — I know from personal experience from losing 4-0 here. ‘It’s been a good night’s work. We’ve been on a bad run and sometimes as hard as you try on the pitch it doesn’t seem to work. ‘We’ve trained hard, tried to do the right things and we’ve shown that tonight. ‘We know what we’re capable of. It’s nice we’ve managed to turn a little corner, come here and get a good result.’

DIEGO COSTA scored for Atletico Madrid as the Spanish club coasted to a 3-0 victory over Lokomotiv Moscow. The ex-Chelsea striker hit his side’s second, finishing from close range. Saul Niguez opened the scoring and Koke fired in at the death as Atletico all but booked their place in the quarter-finals. Former West Ham forward Dimitri Payet scored as Marseille defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-1.