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Football London
Football London
Sport
Scott Trotter

Former Manchester United star names the duo who make Arsenal a different team after Napoli win

Arsenal put in a mature away performance to come away as 1-0 victors over Napoli at the San Paulo Stadium and former Manchester United midfieder Owen Hargreaves believes two players really made a difference.

A number of pundits have doubted the Gunners' ability to make the top four due to their poor performances away from home where they have struggled to pick up wins in the Premier League.

The 38-year-old pundit commended Unai Emery's ability to set up his team for the Napoli tie as Arsenal played with three central defenders and a solid midfield to combine with the attacking prowess of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

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Hargreaves said: "Arsenal look different when Koscielny and Sokratis play together,

"I thought the midfield balance was excellent with Torreira and Xhaka, while the front two pose a threat and there was just an excellent balance.

"You have to give the manager credit, he sets the team up. He addressed the away issue didn’t concede a goal. They are peaking at the right time."

The Arsenal boss was impressed with how his side showed consistency following their win over Watford. The North London side also recorded a 1-0 win on the road to the Hornets and the Spaniard hopes that the team can continue to improve.

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Emery said: "I don't know if it's our best performance but it's good after our victory on Monday at Watford and the difficult match. To repeat against Napoli in the second leg, keeping our clean sheet and also winning against a very big team, for us what was most important was continuing with our work and being consistent.

"Our objective is to improve, being consistent in our way. Having our 1,100 supporters here with us gave us an atmosphere of joy. There was a big atmosphere against us but our team showed big personality."

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