Arsene Wenger begs 2 goals hero Tomas Rosicky not to leave

ROSI FUTURE ... hero Tomas Rosicky cracks home his second in the 50th minute

ARSENE WENGER has pleaded with match-winner Tomas Rosicky not to quit Arsenal in the summer.

The Czech veteran has been linked with a move away at the end of the season.

But after Rosicky, 32, scored both goals in the 2-1 win at West Brom to lift the
Gunners into fourth spot, Wenger said he hoped the midfielder would stay put.

The Arsenal boss said: “I thought he was fantastic — he’s not a player I want to lose. I rate him very highly.

“He has one year left on his contract but I hope he stays and finishes his career with us here.

“He’s had a difficult season and been injured.

“But he always seems to come in and gives us a lift at the end of the season. He’s a quality player.”

Rosicky’s contribution was crucial to a narrow victory in what was only his second start and fifth appearance of the season.

He scored a goal in each half as well as clearing a 12th-minute header from Claudio Yacob off the line as the Gunners made it six wins out of seven.

But all his hard work was almost ruined by a 70th-minute red card for defender
Per Mertesacker after he clattered into Shane Long to give away a penalty.

James Morrison scored to ensure a nailbiting climax but Arsenal held out for a win that lifts them over Chelsea and to within a point of arch-rivals Spurs.

Wenger added: “I have no complaints about the penalty — it was a professional foul and he was the last man.

“That meant we had to show two aspects of our game today.

“Our technical control and our quality and the other side of our game — our fighting spirit — which is not normally associated with us.

“So I’m very pleased because the most important thing was winning this game.

“Everyone is looking at the results of the others but I have told the players not to do that.

“We must just focus on winning our games.

“And if we win those games we don’t have to look at Chelsea and Tottenham any more.”

Wenger confirmed England duo Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott will be available after injury for next weekend’s clash with Norwich.

He said: “We are in the top four now and I am confident we will finish there.

“I’m very pleased, it is three big points. We have taken 22 points out of the last 27 but we know our target is to continue to do that.

“It will be tight. It will go all the way to the end but we are ready for the fight.”
West Brom boss Steve Clarke tried to see the positives after a narrow defeat.

He said: “I thought we played well. They scored from one of the few chances they created and we gave another soft goal away in the second half.

“We could also have had an earlier penalty when Laurent Koscielny up-ended Claudio Yacob in the area.

“On another day that would have been given and would have changed the whole complexion of the match.

“We had a go and the red card gave us a chance. We created quite a few chances and they dropped to people who would normally score them on another day.”

BAYERN MUNICH, who knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League, clinched the Bundesliga title with six games to spare — a German league record.
Bastian Schweinsteiger scored the only goal at Eintracht Frankfurt.