Arsenal's first victory in 10 matches against Chelsea,
Manchester United or
City came
after Dedryck Boyata was dismissed after just four minutes before
goals from Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Nicklas Bendtner secured the
win.
But such was Arsenal's poise, Fabregas, who also had penalty
saved by Joe Hart before half time, was adamant that City would not
have been able to live with Arsenal no matter how many players they
had.
"Even if they were 15 and we were 11 we would still go and win,"
he said. "We always want to go forward and create chances but the
way we played, we were very difficult to stop. I think we were
fantastic.
"I think we played some outstanding football and it's difficult
to stop a side when they play at that tempo."
Without a trophy since 2005, Arsène Wenger feels his side showed
they are finally coming of age, particularly as they did not have
any players sent off in some brutal exchanges in the opening
period. Arsenal had four players cautioned in the opening period
but did not add to that total after half time.
"I'm very pleased because they looked like they have matured,"
Wenger said. "We've matured in the sense of negotiating the
difficulties of the game in an intelligent way.
"That means not getting a red card, keeping the ball well, being
patient when it was needed. Collectively, we completely dominated
the game.
"It was a good performance maybe a little bit under special
circumstances. It was important to get a win in a big place, to
strengthen the belief of the squad and continue our march forward.
We were calm and showed intelligence and put in the performance we
needed to put in against 10 men."
With seven goals in seven matches as well as setting up
Bendtner's goal, Wenger feels that Nasri, 23, has taken his game to
another level and added: "He is becoming more efficient and I think
he's become stronger physically and you judge a player on his
numbers.
"He got a goal and an assist and that's what you want from a
player with a lot of talent like he has. He's a complete player
because he can run with the ball, he's quick and he's a clinical
finisher now. At 23, your career starts at the top
level."
Although he was adamant he was not angry, Roberto Mancini, the
City manager, maintained that Mark Clattenburg should not have sent
Boyata off because Chamakh's touch would have run through to Hart
and also insisted that he has never been more confident of his
team's prospects.
"They showed that they are one of the best teams in the Premier
League," Mancini said. "I'm very proud of my players because they
played very well. If it was 11 against 11 we would have won this
game.
"Against Newcastle we had a clear chance to score because Carlos
[Tevez] was in the box with a clear chance to score and it was a
yellow card.
"Today the striker touched the ball but it was probably going to
the goalkeeper and the referee sent him off. I don't agree with the
referee."
City may face censure from the Football Association after a
bottle was thrown at Nasri just weeks after a similar incident
involving Blackburn's El-Hadji Diouf at Eastlands.
