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Emery ecstatic about Spartak show

Unai Emery did not stint in his praise for FC Spartak Moskva's display in beating SL Benfica 2-1, lauding Ari in particular, but Jorge Jesus felt the visitors' play merited a point.

Emery ecstatic about Spartak show
Emery ecstatic about Spartak show ©UEFA.com

Unai Emery, Spartak coach
Of course I'm happy with the result. I have to underline that we controlled the match almost throughout the contest, from the first minute. We were really good on the ball today. Not only did we score twice, we were really intense in attack and defence. We didn't allow Benfica to do that much, so we are happy with the result and our display.

Talking about Ari, he had played as a centre-forward previously before moving to Spartak. He did really well in this position against Anji Makhachkala on Saturday. Moving Ari to this role helped us to produce more technical football up front. Ari's injury is not serious, it's just a simple knock. He was hit quite a lot during the game, but if the player leaves the field without any knocks, he has wasted his time.

Jorge Jesus, Benfica coach
It would have been important to get a point. We played well enough to deserve one. But Spartak surprised us, and also the fact this is an artificial pitch [influenced proceedings]. We struggled to adapt but we put that right. We dominated in the second half and had several chances, but could not score. Still, we deserved to leave with a point. Now we have to win both games at home and I think if we do that we can get there. We have every chance of winning them.

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