Marseille 0 Arsenal 1: Ramsey’s goal gifts Arsenal late win

Substitute Aaron Ramsey scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner to send Arsenal top of Group F at the expense of Champions League opponents Marseille.

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.

Ramsey had started on the bench due to concerns over a hamstring problem, but was in the right place to continue his side’s unbeaten run in Europe.

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They now lead last night’s hosts by seven points to six and, in contrast to their faltering league form, are in control of their own destiny in Europe.

“I thought we defended really well today, it was nice to come on and get the winning goal,” said Ramsay afterwards.

“Both teams defended well, but maybe we were a bit anxious in trying to break them down. In the last 10 or 15 mins we applied some more pressure and finally broke through.”

On his goal, Ramsey added: “The cross came in and I sort of gambled it might come to the far post. I had a bit of time to think about it, but luckily for me it went in.

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“We’ve had two wins (on the trot) now. Hopefully now we can carry that on and keep that going,” he added.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitted the victory was a boost for confidence.

“For the qualification it’s a very important goal, for the confidence as well,” he said.

“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.”