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THE GUNNERS . . . Arsenal players (from left) Bacary Sagna, Kieran Gibbs, Wojciech Szczesny, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain wave to fans during their team’s victory parade in London yesterday following their FA Cup soccer final win over Hull City at Wembley on Saturday. Arsenal finally ended their trophy drought after Ramsey scored the extra-time goal that clinched a 3-2 win over Hull, putting silverware back in the Arsenal trophy cabinet for the first time since 2005. — AFP

LONDON. — Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has encouraged his players to use their 3-2 FA Cup soccer final victory over Hull City on Saturday as a springboard to further success in the years ahead. Wenger has also vowed to stay at the club after seeing his Gunners side end their nine-year wait for silverware by beating Hull City in the FA Cup final

Hull stunned the expectant Gunners supporters, astonishingly taking a two-goal lead within eight minutes, but Wenger’s side eventually clicked into gear, with Aaron Ramsey the eventual hero in extra time.

Wenger had insisted the result at Wembley would have no bearing on his decision to stay at the club but confirmed after the victory he would be remaining at the Emirates.

“I always said my future doesn’t depend on this but I always wanted to stay,” Wenger told ITV when asked if he was staying before saying, “Yes, I will.”
He added: “We wanted to make history tonight and win the game and we did that in both ways — how not to start the Cup final and how to come back,” Wenger said.

“I think it was a turning point in the life span of this team — to know they can win in that way was really important today.
“It would have been terrible (to lose) but we came back. I’ve praised the spirit of this team and they showed that today. Congratulations to Hull they played fantastically the whole game.”

Match-winner Ramsey had trouble keeping his emotions in check after the thrilling game and admitted he feared the worst when Hull raced into a two-goal lead.
“I am getting a bit emotional and I am not usually,” the Welsh midfielder said.

“I get emotional thinking about it. We have conceded early in lots of big games this season, but we showed great strength of character to come back and to score the winner is something I have dreamed of.

“This one is for the manager and the fans who have already believed in us, even when things have not gone well for us.”
Jack Wilshere revealed Hull’s quick-fire start to the match caused him to feel sick but was glad the team could win the cup for their long-suffering fans.
“We never do it easy. In the first half, I was sitting on the bench, and I felt sick,” he said.

“Second half we were in control but this win is for the Arsenal fans. Kieran Gibbs pulled his calf at the end but that shows his character as he stayed on, it’s fantastic.”
Arsenal’s hopes of ending a nine-year trophy drought had appeared slim after centre-backs James Chester and Curtis Davies put Hull 2-0 up after only eight minutes of Saturday’s final at a humid Wembley Stadium.

But Santi Cazorla’s inch-perfect free-kick halved the deficit and after Laurent Koscielny scored a brave equaliser with 19 minutes remaining, Ramsey drilled home a 109th-minute winner in extra-time. Having seen his side falter in similar circumstances over recent years — most notably in 2011, when they lost the League Cup final to Birmingham City — Wenger was delighted by the spirit his players showed.

“The mental aspect is very important in a game like that when everybody expects you to win and you’re 2-0 down,” he said.
“Of course you’re under pressure. Everybody thinks you have won the game before you started.

“The cup final in England is special. We have seen it last year (when Wigan Athletic beat Manchester City); we have seen it again this year.
“It was an important moment in the life of this team, because to lose today (Saturday) certainly would have been a major setback and to win will be a good platform to build on and come back even stronger next year.”

On having finally ended the club’s long wait for a trophy, he added: “It’s a big, big moment of happiness. The happiness is linked sometimes with the suffering and the time you have to wait.”

Wenger has now won five FA Cups — equalling former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson’s tally — and he identified Saturday’s triumph as the most impressive of them all.

“It was more important today than all the others,” he said.
“We’ve made the Double twice, so you have already won (another trophy) and you’re not under the pressure we were under today. I’ve won now five times. It’s not too bad.” Having pledged to sign a new contract in the coming days, Wenger will in time turn his thoughts to making a more sustained challenge for the English Premier League title next season.

Arsenal made a storming start to the league campaign that has just ended, only to finish seven points below champions City, and Wenger warned that next season’s title race will be every bit as keenly contested.

“You have to accept that in England the Premier League is very tough,” he said.
“You look at the top four this year — you have no Man United, you have no Everton, you have no Tottenham.

“All these clubs have invested a huge amount of money and the clubs who won the Premier League have invested incredible amounts of money, so it’s difficult to beat them, but we’ll try.”

Hull manager Steve Bruce, whose side were already guaranteed to qualify for next season’s Europa League, said that he could not fault his players after the first FA Cup final appearance in the club’s 110-year history.

“Unfortunately we ran out of juice. You could see that. All week we’ve been carrying people and they hurt us at the finish,” he told BT Sport.
“I couldn’t ask any more of them, but today it wasn’t to be for us, which is unfortunate. “The vast majority are the team that got us promoted last year, so all credit to them. They’ve given everything, but in the end we just fell short on the day.” — AFP.