'It was a great comeback'

Back in the Arsenal FC starting lineup for the first time in 20 months, Tomáš Rosický praised his team's ability to cope with adversity after the Gunners overcame a disastrous start to mount a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory at R. Standard de Liège in UEFA Champions League Group H.

Late turnaround
Some feared the Czech international would never play again at the highest level as he struggled to recover from a knee injury and then a hamstring complaint. But after coming on as a substitute and scoring against Manchester City FC at the weekend, he was named in Arsène Wenger's starting XI in Belgium. The night began badly and the visitors were soon 2-0 down but Nicklas Bendtner restored hope at the end of the first half. Rosický was replaced in the 70th minute and watched from the sidelines as Thomas Vermaelen and Eduardo turned the match around in the final 13 minutes.

'Great comeback'
"I'd hardly touched the ball and after five minutes it was 2-0 for them, so it wasn't easy," said Rosický, "but I think we all know we're capable of turning these games around and we did that tonight." One man certain they could engineer a triumph was the manager himself, and Rosický gave an insight into Wenger's half-time team talk. "He said that we had to be patient and we'd get our chances, and he was right. It was a great comeback. It's not easy to come from 2-0 down to win; only the strong teams can do that."

Poor start
The 28-year-old was nonetheless at a loss to account for why last season's semi-finalists found themselves in such a daunting position to begin with. "It's difficult to explain, but we started very poorly as a team," he said. "Even in the second half we started very poorly and they had an immediate chance, so we definitely have to improve. That cannot happen again."

Room for improvement
One of the brighter performers in Arsenal's patchy first-half display, Rosický was unable to last the distance and admitted he still has a long way to go before he is back in peak form. "I still have plenty of room for improvement," he explained. "I have to improve my fitness, of course. I'm nowhere near my best and I will be better, but it's a very good feeling to start a game again after such a long time."