Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger paid a warm tribute to Thierry Henry after the French striker dethroned Ian Wright as the club's record scorer with both goals in their 2-0 Champions League win at Sparta Prague on Tuesday.
Henry marked his return after nearly six weeks out through injury with a double strike that took his Arsenal tally to 186, beating the record of former England international Ian Wright by one.
Wright also played under Wenger and the manager said on Tuesday: "I thought that the record of Ian Wright would never be broken and that it would remain there for eternity. I never thought anybody would beat it.
"When you think that he [Henry] had one training session with the team yesterday, and a very light one, it sums it all up.
"He is vital because he always gives you hope that you can score and that confidence spreads all through the team and you could see that tonight."
Wenger admitted he would have liked to have kept Henry on the substitutes' bench for longer than the 15 minutes it took fellow striker Jose Antonio Reyes to get injured, prompting Henry's entrance.
"I planned to bring him on at some stage but I had to do it early," Wenger told Sky Sports. "He was very keen as soon as he came on to try to get behind their defenders and did it very well.
"We became very dangerous and he scored a great goal and after he kept the game under control and then scored a late second goal."
Henry's first strike, a curled effort with the outside of his foot, was his best but it was the second that meant most to the France international.
"Beating Wright's record is something special," he said. "I always said that I wanted to do it at Highbury but you can't have everything...I'm over the moon.
"I only had one training session with the group, yesterday, and as soon as I came on I just wanted to help. With Jose coming off injured, I didn't have time to warm up."
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