Wenger heaps praise on Henry

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hailed ‘legend’ Thierry Henry after his winning farewell to the Premier League in the 2-1 win over Sunderland.

Wenger lavished praise on the former France international who marked his last Premier League appearance before returning to the New York Red Bulls in fairytale fashion with a 92nd-minute winner that capped a spirited Arsenal comeback.

“He finished the story of the legend today in Premier League and I hope he can do the same in the Champions League on Wednesday,” Wenger told reporters at his post-match press conference.

“He got us the three points in a very difficult game. People say it might haunt me and why didn’t I sign him for longer. He shows you as well that these players never lose it. Exceptional talent survives.”

“You have that at the moment with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes at Manchester United and Thierry Henry here. It is just a luxury to have a player like him on the bench.”

“He has to go back to Red Bulls on Thursday but we will see next season. Maybe he might want to stop at some stage as well.”

Henry struck his 229th goal in Arsenal colours after fellow substitute Aaron Ramsey cancelled out James McClean’s opening goal that sparked a flurry of second-half activity.

McClean struck after Per Mertesacker collapsed with ankle ligament damage which rules him out of the trip to Milan.

“We were unfortunate because Mertesacker told me that he got what felt like a shot in his ankle and he couldn’t move at all anymore,” Wenger added.

“I must say that we are a bit worried about his ankle I must say because he will have to go home on crutches because he had ligament damage. How bad the damage is we will see on Sunday but for sure he will be out on Wednesday.”

“Should McClean have stopped? I thought about it during the game but you cannot demand that because you do not know if the guy has gone down because of injury or because of a slip.”

Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill was not shattered despite the nature of the loss.

“It was obviously disappointing to lose the goal, but I have no complaints about the team whatsoever,” O’Neill told Sky Sports.

“The last couple of months, their heart and soul has gone into the game.”

“We are just obviously disappointed to lose from a winning position.”