Wenger: Arsenal fans know Iwobi’s ‘special’

goal.com

The Nigerian youngster got a standing ovation from the Emirates crowd after coming off when he scored and provided an assist against Watford.

Arsene Wenger has described the standing ovation that Arsenal fans gave Alex Iwobi in Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Watford as deserving of a ‘special’ player.

The Nigerian youngster provided an assist for Alexis Sanchez to open scoring before receiving an assist from the Chilean to score his second goal in as many starts in the Premier League.

He would go on to hit the cross bar before being substituted late on when he received a standing applause from the Gunners faithful and earning him a place in Goal's Premier Team of the Week.

“I think our people have seen many good players over the years and they know straight away when a player has something special, so they acknowledge that,” Wenger told Arsenal Player.

“You cannot cheat people. They’ve seen how quickly [Iwobi’s] improved and how well he’s played.

“It’s surprising how quickly he’s integrated into our game. He’s worked with us since the start of the season and he has grown, gained confidence and when he came in he had an impact straight away.

“That’s benefited from the fact that he knows everybody and they trust him as well. I didn’t expect that level of efficiency or impact on the scoresheet.” Arsenal closed the gap on their rivals Tottenham and still have an eye on the title if they continue to play this well.

“Our game had a quick flow with technical quality,” Wenger added. “We created chances, played well together and overall we dominated all departments of the game. We scored four, didn’t concede, so it’s positive.

“Now we have to find the right mixture between belief and being realistic, focusing on the next game, focusing on the process, and adding that belief. We can still challenge for the title.”