A beaming Arsene Wenger admitted to being proud after his Arsenal side fought back from 4-0 down to win 7-5 in their League Cup clash against Reading in one of the most astonishing games in recent times.
Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick with a brace from Marouane Chamakh and one apiece courtesy Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny - Walcott scoring all three of his goals in the final moments - the first one at the stroke of halftime to cut the deficit to 4-1, the second in the final kick of the game in normal time and the winning goal in the final minute of extra time.
"We went from disaster to, I must say at least at some stage, pride -- because we at least came back in the second half with a decent performance," Wenger said. "We had just hope, but it didn't look like we would go through. At least in the second half, we got our disastrous first half out of the system.
"Then, once it was 4-4, I think it looked like we would be the winner of the game. Reading had given a lot, and (were) mentally of course down, and in extra time the maximum they could have got was a penalty shootout. We looked quite comfortable in the second half.
"They had a fantastic first half. I know what it is to be pulled back when you're 4-0 up. It happened to me as well. They should take credit from that performance and not be too disappointed."
Wenger, never to lose faith in his players, insisted he always thought his side were capable of making a comeback after going down 4-0 after just 37 minutes, saying the first goal from Walcott was crucial.
"At 4-1, I thought yes," he said. "In the second half we played 4-2-4, basically 4-1-5 because Eisfeld is an offensive midfielder. We created many chances and from then on, I always had hope we could come back. We had some free kicks around the box (but) we couldn't score.
"With 15 minutes to go, I thought that's the moment to score the 4-3. We didn't. Seven minutes to go, we had a great chance. We didn't, so I thought it will be short now. It's strange to explain.
"At 4-0, you think you have won the game. At 4-1 you still think you have won the game. At 4-2, you suddenly realise that it's not over -- and then the panic kicks in and no matter how good a player you are, that goes through the team."
The Arsenal manager paid tribute to the Arsenal fans that braved the first half, to stay back and see their side produce one of the biggest comebacks in history. "Overall, I just felt sorry for our fans because at 2-0, they stayed behind the team," Wenger added. "At 3-0, they stayed behind the team. At 4-0, they stayed behind the team. I would like to give them credit tonight."
