Van Persie wins Wenger praise

Arsene Wenger was once again left in awe at the heroics of Robin van Persie as the Arsenal captain struck twice to beat Borussia Dortmund and put the north London club through to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The Dutchman has now scored 17 goals this season and has racked up 33 goals in 30 games for the calendar year.

Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp described the 28-year-old's display as "simply unbelievable" and his opposite number Wenger joined him in singing the striker's praises by saying: "He is in a period where he doesn't have to look for goals. They just come naturally for him, he is always in the right place at the right moment."

He added: "He got two goals tonight from positions where it looks easy but that's only because he understands the game so well.

"At the moment Robin is an exceptional player. He takes advantage of our offensive style. At the moment he is the one who scores all the goals so we hope we can keep him fit and with us for a long time."

Van Persie headed home an Alex Song cross just after half-time before adding a second four minutes from time from a Thomas Vermaelen flick-on to ensure the Gunners sealed qualification as champions of Group F with one game to spare.

Wenger was pleased with Song's contribution for the first goal.

"For the first goal Song did something exceptional for a defensive midfielder," Wenger said.

"I am pleased for him because we had quite a difficult start in midfield in the first half, but we took over in the second half.

"Overall it was a good game. Dortmund are a good team. They started stronger than us but we were patient and intelligent."