Robin van Persie reacts after Arsenal’s FA Cup final win over Chelsea

Former Arsenal star Robin van Persie has heaped praise on his former club after they won the FA Cup final over Chelsea on Saturday. The north London giants trailed within the opening five minutes after a goal from Christian Pulisic, but they were able to level the proceedings before the half an hour mark through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored from the penalty spot.

The Gabon international gave the Gunners the lead in the 67th minute and they managed to hold on to the advantage for the rest of the final. The game was shrouded with controversy as there were a few poor decisions made by referee Anthony Taylor, but the Gunners were nonetheless worthy winners, according to van Persie.

He told: “It’s really important to win [silverware] at one point, ideally early. As I said many times before, you can just see since he took over that they, even in the early stages, played as a team.Not always, and it’s not consistent enough yet to really compete for the league at this moment in time – hopefully soon. But you can see that they play for each other and they play for the coach. They are worthy champions.”
The north London giants have failed to qualify for the Champions League for four seasons on the bounce and it appeared that they may not play Europa League football after they finished eighth on the table. However, they managed to make up for the same with FA Cup success and that has ensured that they have qualified directly to the Europa League group stage.
Owing to this, Tottenham Hotspur, who finished sixth on the table, will start their Europa League campaign from the second qualifying round and will need to beat three teams to reach the competition’s proper. Jose Mourinho’s side have to play three European games between mid-September and October 1 and that is not the ideal preparation for the new season.