When Jack Wilshere powered in the opening goal against Chelsea, he could be forgiven for soaking up the adulation - but that was far from his mind.
It was the Arsenal midfielder’s first Premier League goal since May 24, 2015, but he says that his reaction was one of delight for the team rather than himself.
This is what he said to the media after the game:
on his feelings after the game…
A bit of relief after going 1-0 up, we were sloppy to let them back into the game and into the lead, but I think we showed good character and never gave in. That’s a part of our game, we never like to give in, we fight to the end and we’ll take the point.
on the quality of the teams…
It was a good game, a good game to be involved in. As a player you want to be involved in those types of high-quality games, the important games. We knew it was important not to lose and of course we wanted to win the game but we failed, we’d done enough but we were sloppy, so we’ll take the point.
on scoring…
It was a nice feeling, my first thought was the team, we needed to win this game and I thought it was a good goal for the team. Afterwards when we go home I’ll enjoy it a bit more when I watch it again.
on the race for the top four…
Teams keep winning, you see Liverpool showing good character and finding two at the end, again we didn’t lose but we need to start picking up more points. We have a big game next week against Bournemouth, we need to get ready for that and we’ve got a couple of cup games in between, we’ll go again.
on the penalty and the potential penalty for Maitland-Niles…
It’s hard for the referee, it happens so quickly and he’s got to make a split decision, so it’s easy for us to go after the game in slow motion and say it’s a penalty, but over the season they even themselves out and I’m sure there will be a few more, we’ll get what we deserve.
on Bellerin’s goal…
It was a great strike, he showed great character and composure in the 92nd minute when you’re 2-1 down and chasing the game.
on his contract situation and Ray Parlour’s recent comments…
It’s nice hear that from Ray, he was a player that I watched when I was younger, a midfielder, and he came through the youth into the team, so it’s good to hear from him. I’ve just got to keep working and take each game as they come I’m happy and I’ve said it before, I just want to be playing games, I missed it so much going out on loan, I just want to be an Arsenal player.
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