ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger admitted last night’s victory over Marseille was one that will boost morale and confidence at the club.
Substitute Aaron Ramsey scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner to send the Gunners top of Group F at the expense of Champions League opponents Marseille.
"For the qualification it’s a very important goal, for the confidence as well," said Wenger of Ramsey’s goal.
"Marseille defended in a very disciplined way, but you could see in the last 15 minutes we started to create opportunities. We showed patience and discipline.
"Everyone questioned how we would cope defensively tonight and I think we did well.
"The spirit is good and slowly our game becomes stronger."
Both sides had penalty shouts for handball turned down in a busy first half but the game had slowed to a crawl by the time Ramsey coolly slotted past Steve Mandanda with seconds remaining.
"We’ve had two wins now," said Ramsey. "Hopefully now we can carry that on and keep that going," he added.
Things started nervily, with just four minutes gone when Alex Song mis-controlled the ball under pressure from Loic Remy, who briefly looked as though he would have a clear run on goal.
A foul from Song stopped him in his tracks and the subsequent yellow card was a price worth paying.
Though the free-kick came to nought, Marseille were in the ascendancy and had a strong penalty appeal turned down when a cross struck Carl Jenkinson’s arm.
The referee rejected the claim and promptly booked Andre Ayew for his reaction.
Arsenal started to hit back and won a corner after a threatening run by Arteta was cut out.
The Spaniard’s delivery from the left looked to have been handled too, this time by Souleymane Diawara, but once again there was no penalty decision. Instead, the ball found Van Persie and the Dutchman’s looping header would have gone in were it not for Diawara, who was back in position to clear the danger legally.
The Gunners had visibly raised their game but a quick counter-attack nearly gave the hosts a 31st-minute lead.
Remy skipped past Per Mertesacker on the byline and shaped to cut in on goal, only for the covering Jenkinson to get a deflection on a shot that squirmed wide of the far post.
Marseille had other chances to break the deadlock before half-time, Laurent Koscielny making a last-ditch tackle on Remy and Lucho Gonzalez diverting Valbuena’s cross just off target.
Arsenal looked to feed the ball wide to Andrey Arshavin as the second half got under way, but the Russian was having little luck getting past Marseille right-back Cesar Azpilicueta.
Gonzalez and Ayew were both hustling for the French side but neither had a clear shot on goal before Jenkinson finally launched upfield.
It was his last act before being replaced — complaining of a knee injury.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger shuffled his deck in the closing stages, moving the ineffective Tomas Rosicky to the left and sending on Ramsey to occupy the space behind Van Persie.
Some sloppy defending briefly alerted Gignac to a gap in the Arsenal line but he was outmuscled by the retreating Koscielny.
With moments remaining Djourou whipped a cross in from deep, the ball found its way to Ramsey at the far post and his finish was enough to steal an unlikely three points.
