Arsene Wenger: Arsenal were near-perfect against Chelsea in first half

Arsene Wenger lauded a "near-perfect" first-half display from Arsenal as they beat Chelsea 3-0 at the Emirates on Saturday.

The Gunners were dominant in the opening 45 minutes and scored goals from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil.

Arsenal had not beaten Chelsea in the Premier League since 2011 but they were comfortable as they closed out a fourth straight league win.

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"In the first half, we wanted to play this high pace, put them under pressure, and play at the very high collective connection with the speed of passing," said Wenger, who was taking charge of his first match after celebrating 20 years at the club.

"It's one of those moments as a manager when you think: 'Today is a great day.' In the first half it was nearly perfect. Overall, in the first half, we showed great quality. We played with style, with pace, with movement. That's the kind of football we want to play."

Asked whether the performance was one of Arsenal's best in recent years, Wenger added: "Coming out straight after the game, I'd be tempted to say yes. It's one of the games where what we want to do worked very well. So yes, one of our best performances of recent years.

"I felt that in the last three weeks, our team was on the way up. Today was a good test to see if that was real, if we could continue to move upwards. Would Chelsea stop our progression? Overall, with the quality of our performance, it confirmed we are on the way up.

"You cannot fault any performance from the goalkeeper to the centre-forward. There's still room for improvement, but that shows we can defend together the style of football we want to play."

The win was even more significant because of Arsenal's recent results against Chelsea.

"We had to deal with some inconvenient facts before the game," said Wenger. "They were we couldn't beat Chelsea for years. To get that out of the system was also at stake today.

"I think what was important for me was the psychological hurdle standing in our way. We mustn't make too much of it, but we can't ignore it. We couldn't say to the players they'd always done well against Chelsea, because that wasn't true. I told them to focus on the quality of football, to have belief, and today they did that."

"It was relevant for us because it helped us to win a big game. Between winning a big game and the Premier League, there's a long way to go. At the moment, Manchester City look a long way in front but, if we maintain the quality of our performances and stay consistent, we might have a chance."

The only negative for the Gunners was an injury to Francis Coquelin that saw him replaced midway through the first half.

"Coquelin has a knee injury in the same place he suffered one against West Brom last year," said Wenger. "We don't know if the damage is as big. We have to wait for 48 hours, but he left the stadium in a brace, so that's the one negative. I'm a bit worried for that."

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