Arsene Wenger hailed Arsenal's consistency away from home after they picked up their tenth straight away win with a 2-1 result over Marseille in the Champions League, while also reserving special praise for Aaron Ramsey.
Arsenal overcame a poor first half performance - which was very much "handbrakey" in Wenger parlance -- before goals from Theo Walcott, a wonderfully taken volley, and Ramsey, an assured finish, helped the English Premier League side to a valuable opening win.
Marseille pulled one back in stoppage time after Ramsey was harshly adjudged to have fouled Andre Ayew inside the box - Andre's brother Jordan stepped up to reduce the deficit, but it proved to be too little too late.
"Marseille had a very good first half but we didn't make big mistakes at the back and were patient enough to win it in the second half," Wenger said. "I felt we were a bit within ourselves in the first half, a bit timid, and Marseille were more mobile and first on the ball.
"They dropped in the second half and we took advantage of our strong moments. That got us three very important points.
"Before the game I was conscious Marseille would be well focussed. They know they are not favourites, they had nothing to lose and the French are dangerous when they are in that position. I knew it was important to get three points here if we want to have a chance. I said yesterday we needed 10 points at least so to start with three is good."
Wenger also had kind words for Ramsey, who kept his brilliant goalscoring form going with another nice strike. The manager, though, admitted even he didn't envisage Ramsey scoring as many as he has this season already, especially after the midfielder struggled to find his best form after coming back from that horrible injury.
"Honestly, I didn't expect him to score so many goals," Wenger added. "He's especially improved in his passing, his technical quality. He was always in good positions in the box, but scoring is a bit cyclic. You have periods when it goes in and others when it doesn't. For me the most important thing is the quality of his game.
"I decided to be patient with him because when you have been injured for such a long time it takes a while to get back to your best. The only thing is, you never know if he will come completely back. But when you are injured before 20, you come back to your normal level and improve like you have not been injured."
Arsenal have now won an impressive ten games in a row away from home and Wenger believes the belief that has seeped in throughout the squad with every positive result has helped.
"We always try to win and it has worked in recent months," Wenger said. "We played many away games where you expect us to be in a position where we can win the game. But what is interesting is the consistency we have shown and that creates belief."
