Off the Pitch 绿茵场外

Arsenal Return to Form

Samir Nasri was Arsenal's hero, who scored twice

　　After a worrying period of poor results, Arsenal returned to winning ways on Saturday with a deserved 2-1 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.

　　The result will be a massive shot in the armfor Arsenal’s confidence, having gone three games without a win before Saturday’s high-profile fixture.

　　Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger spoke of his pride in his team’s performance against "a great side".

　　He said Arsenal were "not faultless, but we were spot-on spirit-wise". In this phrase "spot-on" means exactly correct, while "spirit-wise" means relating to the team’s spirit.

　　Arsenal's Samir Nasri was the hero of the match, bagging a brace of goals in both halves before teenage substitute Rafael Da Silva managed to claw one back for Manchester United in the 90th minute of the game.

　　But the drama didn’t end there, as the referee awarded an unusually long period of injury time, after Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia was left concussed following a kick in the head.

　　Wenger praised his team’s resilience, in hanging on as United took the initiative.

　　"We couldn’t finish the game off with a third goal, and we had six nervy minutes of stoppage time," Wenger told reporters.

　　The result leaves Arsenal third in the title race behind leaders Chelsea and Liverpool, with Manchester United in fourth place, but with a game in hand.

　　Even Manchester United’s legendarily grumpy manager Sir Alex Ferguson could not hide his admiration for Arsenal’s approach to the game.

　　"Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say that, if you’re going to be beaten, make sure it is against a team that plays footballs," Ferguson said, meaning it is less difficult to accept defeat when the opposition has played with an attractive, attacking style.

　　Arsenal have frequently been criticised for playing "beautiful football" (and losing games) instead of grinding out results.

　　However, in Saturday’s game they proved that they can play attractive football and still beat another top-flight team.

　　GLOSSARY

　　winning ways 制胜
　　shot in the arm （胳膊上打了一针）精神鼓舞
　　high-profile fixture 重要赛事
　　spirit 志气，斗志
　　bagging 添进囊中
　　brace 两个
　　claw one back 扳回一球
　　concussed 受到严重震荡
　　resilience 坚忍不拔
　　hanging on 坚持
　　took the initiative 采取主动
　　nervy 令人紧张的
　　game in hand 手里还有一场球
　　legendarily grumpy 出了名的情绪不好的
　　grinding out results 努力争取好结果
　　top-flight 最高级别的，出类拔萃的