Wenger salutes Vieira

Vieira evades a diving tackle from Karagounis

Arsene Wenger reserved special praise for Patrick Vieira after Arsenal's Champions League win over Panathinaikos.

The Arsenal manager said that Vieira had been the key figure in the Gunners' crucial 2-1 win at Highbury.

"Vieira gave everything. In the first half he was a real leader," Wenger said.

"He had an unlucky patch early in the game when he lost four or five balls.

Richard [Wright] made a great debut in the Champions League

Arsene Wenger

"But he had the mental strength to make a difference. They defended very well but he was a determining factor for us on many occasions."

Wenger was also delighted with the performances of goalkeeper Richard Wright and striker Thierry Henry.

Wright made his home and European debut for the Gunners and saved a first-half Panathinaikos penalty.

'Great striker'

Yet he was only in the Arsenal team because of an injury to England keeper David Seaman.

"Richard made a great debut in the Champions League," Wenger said.

"It was not only his penalty save. He was decisive, intelligent and calm when needed.

"It is clear that I have two first-choice goalkeepers now and that will eventually give me a decision to make.

"But at the moment I'm just happy for Richard and the team."

Henry scored both of Arsenal's goals - the first with a cool finish from the edge of the area, the second with a penalty.

Wenger said: "People are hard on him sometimes when he misses a chance, but just look at his record.

"When you do that you will see just how great a player he is.

"The first goal was very difficult for him to score because the keeper stood up for a long time.

This was not justice for Panathinaikos - Arsenal did not deserve to win

Yannis Kirastas
Panathinaikos manager

"And even for the penalty, Thierry was under a lot of pressure but he did well."

The result puts Arsenal joint-second with Real Mallorca in Group C.

Wenger said: "We are in a good position again now. Things are in our hands and we know what we have to do against Mallorca next week."

The result ended Panathinaikos's 100% start to their Champions League campaign.

Even though they remain top of Group C, coach Yannis Kirastas was disappointed by the defeat and by the refereeing of Switzerland's Urs Meier.

"This was not justice for Panathinaikos," he said. "Arsenal did not deserve to win and we deserve to be top of the group.

"I'm very happy with the way we played and we had many chances during the game."