Crystal Palace 0 Arsenal 2: Wenger hails ‘very convincing’ Gunners win

Arsene Wenger praised his Arsenal side for holding firm with 10 men after they moved five points clear at the top of the table with victory at Crystal Palace.

After a goalless first-half, Wenger’s men took the lead in the 47th minute when Mikel Arteta netted a penalty after Serge Gnabry was brought down in the box.

However, Arsenal were reduced to 10 men when Arteta was sent off in the 65th minute after he brought down former Gunner Marouane Chamakh.

Palace battled hard but the Gunners kept the home side at bay – and Olivier Giroud secured the win when he nodded home Aaron Ramsey’s cross late on.

“We showed a lot of resilience and patience and good organisation against a team who were really up for it,” Wenger told BT Sport.

“It is a very convincing win because when we went down to 10 men we mastered the situation very well.

“They came at us and we dealt well with their long balls. Every time they came out in the last 15 minutes it looked like they could score and we got one with 10 minutes to go which was a relief and gives us three more points.”

Wenger also felt that referee Chris Foy’s decision to send off Arteta was the wrong one.

“I honestly believe it was the wrong decision,” he added. “Why? Because it has to be a clear goal-scoring opportunity. It was very far from goal, he was not the last man. And the foul to me was accidental, so I think he got that wrong.”

The win means that the north Londoners head into testing fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester United top of the table – but the Frenchman is not getting carried away by his side’s impressive form.

“It’s a bit early, but it’s nice to be there,” he said. “It’s good as well for the character of the team to respond after the disappointment of Tuesday night [the Champions League loss to Dortmund], to respond straight away.”