Dutchman delighted to bag for Arsenal hat-trick
Robin van Persie was delighted to finally score his first-ever hat-trick for Arsenal in their 3-0 weekend success over Wigan Athletic.
Despite being with The Gunners for the past six seasons the Dutchman had never bagged a treble for the north Londoners.
That record fell by the wayside on Saturday when Van Persie scored all three goals against The Latics and he even afforded himself the luxury of missing from the penalty spot.
Van Persie was pleased to finally break his duck and it was made all the more special because he had gone so long without scoring a hat-trick for Arsenal.
"It means a lot because I've been here a long time," said Van Persie.
"I had come so close, so many times I had scored two goals and then I hit the bar or the post.
"I was starting to think: 'why can I not score a hat-trick?
"Last week it happened again against West Ham, I scored two goals and then hit the post, so I started to sort of accept it a little bit. The moment when you accept it, that's when you score one."
Van Persie, though, insists it is all about what Arsenal can achieve as a collective unit rather than any individual glory.
"It's not just me who scored. It's like a team effort," the Dutchman said.
"You have the one with the assist, the one before the assist and the one who scores, in between you have the guy who's making the run for me.
"We all love to play with each other and we all enjoy our football.
"Of course there is pressure, because you want to win the title and you want to achieve things together, but on the football side of it we are enjoying ourselves."
Despite being with The Gunners for the past six seasons the Dutchman had never bagged a treble for the north Londoners.
That record fell by the wayside on Saturday when Van Persie scored all three goals against The Latics and he even afforded himself the luxury of missing from the penalty spot.
Van Persie was pleased to finally break his duck and it was made all the more special because he had gone so long without scoring a hat-trick for Arsenal.
"It means a lot because I've been here a long time," said Van Persie.
"I had come so close, so many times I had scored two goals and then I hit the bar or the post.
"I was starting to think: 'why can I not score a hat-trick?
"Last week it happened again against West Ham, I scored two goals and then hit the post, so I started to sort of accept it a little bit. The moment when you accept it, that's when you score one."
Van Persie, though, insists it is all about what Arsenal can achieve as a collective unit rather than any individual glory.
"It's not just me who scored. It's like a team effort," the Dutchman said.
"You have the one with the assist, the one before the assist and the one who scores, in between you have the guy who's making the run for me.
"We all love to play with each other and we all enjoy our football.
"Of course there is pressure, because you want to win the title and you want to achieve things together, but on the football side of it we are enjoying ourselves."
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