Arsene Wenger praised a "committed and disciplined" performance from Arsenal as they ended their league hoodoo against Chelsea with a comprehensive 3-0 win.
The Gunners had not beaten Chelsea in the Premier League since October 2011, and had failed to score in their last six league meetings. That all changed on Saturday at Emirates Stadium, where goals from Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott inside the opening 15 minutes settled the nerves, Mesut Ozil adding the third five minutes before the break.
It was the fourth league win in succession for Wenger's men and lifts them to third in the table after six matches, leaving the Frenchman delighted with the level of performance from his squad.
"I am very happy," he told BT Sport. "The inconvenient facts were there and we needed to change the recent history. We did it with style and steel. That's what we wanted.
"We were committed and disciplined and that is not so easy to find that balance in these kind of games. Overall I believe our collective rhythm was very good to give them problems.
"We want to play this kind of game, based on technical quality and pace. I hope this kind of performance convinces the players that we are on the right path. We still have some room for
improvement."
Wenger gave particular praise to central defensive duo Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi after they barely gave Diego Costa a kick.
"They [the two centre-backs] had an outstanding performance," he said. "Both of them [were] committed and intelligent, technically sound, so overall I am very pleased." It was not all good news for Arsenal, Francis Coquelin limping off injured after 32 minutes. The midfielder missed a significant chunk of last season with a knee ligament problem, and Wenger hopes this latest setback will not be as severe.
"It is a knee problem," he confirmed. "It is in the same place he had last year. "So I hope he is not out as long as last year."
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