Arsenal won with 'style and steel' - Wenger - ESPN FC

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ESPN FC's Craig Burley says Arsenal completely controlled proceedings against a somewhat lacklustre Chelsea side.

Arsenal's Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi react to their side's first win over Chelsea in the Premier League in five years.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hailed his players for playing with "style and steel" after their 3-0 dismantling of Chelsea on Saturday.

Arsenal emphatically ended their run of poor results against Chelsea by scoring three times in the first 40 minutes to earn the Gunners their first Premier League victory against the Blues since 2011.

"I'm very happy. We needed to change the recent history, and we did it with style and steel. And that's what we wanted," Wenger told BT Sport. "We were committed with discipline. And that's not always easy to find a good balance in this kind of game. And overall I believe our collective rhythm was very good to give them problems."

Alexis Sanchez put Arsenal ahead after 11 minutes after stealing the ball from Gary Cahill, and Theo Walcott finished off a great team move just three minutes later to double the lead. Mesut Ozil put the game out of reach by finishing off a quick counterattack before the break, and Arsenal comfortably contained Chelsea's attack -- and striker Diego Costa -- throughout the match.

"We want to play that kind of game based on movement and technical quality and pace," Wenger said. "I hope that this kind of performance convinces the players that we are on the right way, but we still have some room for improvement."

The only negative for Arsenal was an injury to midfielder Francis Coquelin, who limped off midway through the first half with a knee problem. Coquelin missed several months last season with a knee injury, but Wenger said he was hopeful the damage wasn't as bad this time.

Arsenal had plenty to celebrate during Saturday's 3-0 thrashing of Chelsea.

"I hope not, but it's a knee problem at the same place he had last year," Wenger said. "So I hope it's not as long as last year."

Summer signing Granit Xhaka came on for Coquelin, with Wenger having again frustrated some fans by leaving the Switzerland international on the bench despite two goals in his last two appearances. And the Gunners manager, who will celebrate his 20th anniversary at the club on Oct. 1, said his options on the bench show why this squad has more depth and experience than he's had in recent years.

"We lost Coquelin and Granit Xhaka came on, and straight away he is at the level of the game. And that makes a big difference," said Wenger, who also praised fellow newcomer Shkodran Mustafi and his centre-back partner Laurent Koscielny.

"I think they had an outstanding performance both of them. Committed, intelligent, technically sound. So I'm very pleased."

Mattias is ESPN FC's Arsenal correspondent. Follow him @MattiasKaren.

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