Wenger hails Henry the great

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal manager 
Thierry is an exceptional player, who writes football history - and not only at Arsenal. I did not expect him to come on after only 15 minutes and I certainly did not expect him to beat Ian Wright's club scoring record tonight. However, he had a great will to play and his class allowed him to score a great first goal. We started to dominate play after that, but Sparta defended well and they even pressured us from time to time. We needed some time to find more space but Henry managed it in the end. Reyes has an injured rib.

Stanislav Griga, Sparta coach
We are disappointed that we lost the game, although we don't have to be ashamed of our performance today. We did everything we could, playing at the limit of our abilities. I only hoped that we create more chances. There are big differences between these two sides in the quaility of the squad and in individual skills, too. But the biggest difference was in the penalty areas today. They did not allow us many chances and the phenomenal Henry decided the game at the other end. It's absolutely unbelievable that he plays such a fantastic game after a six-week injury.