English Premier League: Wenger’s belief repaid by returning Oxlade-Chamberlain

Striker scores both goals in Arsenal's victory over Crystal Palace.

LONDON: Arsene Wenger believes Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain proved him right by scoring two goals from midfield in the 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up a knee injury in the 3-1 opening day defeat to Aston Villa and then missed the following five months of the season. But he returned to Arsenal’s starting line-up against Palace and scored both goals from central midfield.

“I’ve always believed that he can play wide and central,” said Arsenal manager Wenger.

“I’ve said many times that his future will be central and he has proven me right by scoring the goals and through the quality of his performance. Overall I’m pleased that he’s back to full fitness.”

Palace nullified Arsenal’s midfield creativity for the first-half of a match. But two minutes into the second half, Oxlade-Chamberlain received a brilliant pass from Santi Cazorla and took a touch before lobbing over Julian Speroni.

He then sealed the victory on 72 minutes after exchanging passes with Olivier Giroud and firing in from 15 yards.

Liverpool won’t curb instincts, says Rodgers

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers wants his side to continue to play football from the back despite defender Kolo Toure’s costly mistake in their 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.

Toure’s misplaced pass allowed West Brom substitute Victor Anichebe to equalise at The Hawthorns on Sunday after Liverpool had earlier taken the lead through Daniel Sturridge. But Rodgers claimed he will still urge his players to place an emphasis on possession and retention of the ball even though it meant they dropped two valuable points.

“Kolo is devastated, but I said to him sometimes that’s the price you pay when you try to play football,” said Rodgers.

“In the last 18 months we’ve shown the courage and bravery to play football. Part of that is to build the game from behind. We’ll carry on playing like that. There’s no blame for any of the players.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2014.

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