Arsenal have yet to concede a goal from open play this season.
Innine games, or 810 minutes of competitive action they have only let intwo strikes turned in directly from corners (at Fulham and Bolton) plusthe penalty at Kyiv.
As yet, Arsenal’s defence has yet to be breached via a move.
“Wehave defended very well,” Arsène Wenger told Arsenal.com. “It has notbeen noticed yet but we’ve only conceded those two goals from twocorners. In open play we are quite solid. That, for me, is a goodresponse and a good explanation for the team attitude in the squad.”
Lastseason, Arsenal conceded 31 goals – the highest number of the top fourand nine more than champions Manchester United. It was cited by Wengeras a big contributing factor to his side’s failure to hang on to theirPremier League lead in the latter stages. But, Wenger being Wenger, hisattacking principles will be not compromised to keep his new-foundrecord going.
“What makes me happy at the moment is that we havea good combination of defensive balance and offensive efficiency,” saidthe Frenchman. “Sometimes when you work on defending better you lose anumber of goals.
“But at the moment we are combining the twoand it means when everyone puts the effort in we still can be verydangerous going forward.”