Cesc Fabregas insists beating Chelsea will count
for nothing Arsenal fail to repeat the performance against the rest
of the Premier League.
The Gunners hauled themselves back into the championship
race when they came from behind to win 2-1 at Stamford Bridge
following a second-half brace by Robin van Persie.
It was a first victory in the league since beating defending
champions Manchester United on November 8, and helped claw Arsene
Wenger's men back to within seven points of the Blues after
previous successive defeats.
Fabregas feels the manner of the result has renewed Arsenal's
belief following a troubled spell which saw William Gallas stripped
of the captaincy for his public criticism of the squad.
However, the Spain international is all too aware if the Gunners
fail to see off the challenges of other sides outside the top four
- Hull, Stoke, Fulham and Manchester City have all beaten them this
season - then the hard graft of Sunday's clash in west London will
be 'worthless'.
"We showed a different attitude and that is what we want to do
from now on," Fabregas told Arsenal TV Online.
"We have a new momentum, but if we do not do the same, then it
is not worth it.
"We want to be competitive again in every game and see where we
can go until the end of the season.
"We have shown we can do it, to beat the big teams, so we can
have no excuse with not doing it against the rest of the teams.
"We have to be proud of what we did against Chelsea because we
are a young side and have had a lot of criticism."
Wenger hailed the character of his side in fighting back after
trailing to a first-half own goal from Johan Djourou.
Fabregas dedicated the result to the unwavering faith of their
manager.
"Sometimes the boss has been the only one who has believed in
us," the 21-year-old said.
"He knows what we can do and we proved against Chelsea that he
is not wrong.
"Now it is up to us to keep going and doing it game by
game."
It was a good end to Fabregas' first week as the new captain,
following on from the home win over Dynamo Kiev which secured
Arsenal's place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
"For me, all that is important is the attitude of the team, the
discipline and the character we show," he said.
"When you play next to these guys, you can see the effort they
put in and that they are not afraid to play against anyone in the
league.
"I am really proud to be their captain and hopefully we can keep
going like that."
Deposed skipper Gallas produced a composed display in defence
against his old club - and on another day might have scored to
silence the Stamford Bridge boo-boys.
Wenger praised the 31-year-old's attitude.
"I think William was outstanding, absolutely amazing," he
said.
"He came out of that troublesome period with, for me, a lot of
credit.
"His commitment is fantastic and he was outstanding, and had
already been like that against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday night. It
shows he is a fighter."