Cesc Fabregas
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Fabregas - Goal was best moment of my career
AC Milan 0-2 Arsenal
Champions League Round 2 Leg 2
San Siro
Tue, Mar 4, 2008, 7.45pm
By Richard Clarke
Cesc Fabregas ranks his goal at Milan on Tuesday as one of the best moments of his career so far.
The 20-year-old, who is fast approaching 200 games for Arsenal, let fly from distance with five minutes left to give the visitors a vital lead in the Champions League Knockout Round second leg at the San Siro.
Although Emmanuel Adebayor added another at the death, it was that fabulous Fabregas goal - and the celebration that followed - which stick in the memory.
"It was one of the best moments of my career and I went straight to the boss because without him I would never have had the chance to play in a game like this," he said.
"Maybe I have not been at my best since my injury, but now I feel great once again. This performance has been very important for my confidence. After I had started the season so well and then had an injury, I was not playing the way I used to and I was a bit upset. I needed a performance like this.
"When you look back on your career, these are the nights you are going to remember.
"We have to be very proud of what we have done. We went over to our fans, and you could also see some of the Milan fans clapping. You could see they like this kind of football and that we played well.
"The Milan players all said: 'well done, we hope you win it now'. In Italy, they have a lot of respect."
But respect is not enough, Arsenal need to display the trophies their consistency deserves. Fabregas feel they are 'on order'.
"We only have a small squad and have had lots of injuries," he said. "However, now we have important players coming back, like Robin [van Persie] and maybe next week Tomas [Rosicky] and Kolo Toure. So it is all positive.
"Other teams now know if they let us play, we can be very dangerous. They close us down and defend, we have to try not to make mistakes and just play our own football.
"The spirit of the team is amazing, and we have to keep going. Now, though, we just have to be focussed on Sunday's game - we have to go to Wigan and win there."
[ Wednesday, March 05, 2008]
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