Szczesny - I enjoyed it more than a 5-2

Wojciech Szczesny enjoyed Sunday’s north London derby “much more” than Arsenal’s two 5-2 victories against Tottenham last year.

Olivier Giroud’s first-half strike settled a thrilling match, although the visitors threatened during the tense closing stages.

Arsene Wenger’s men held on for their fourth consecutive victory, and Szczesny hailed the team’s resolute display at the back.

“We are delighted with the result, and the performance as well because we defended really well for 90 minutes,” he told Arsenal Player.

“We looked very dangerous on the counter-attack and I think it tells you a lot when Hugo Lloris was probably the best player on the pitch.

“I thought our defending today, and over the last few games, has been fantastic. It is down to the desire of every single player to win every single ball. We were stronger in the tackles than they were, and Mathieu Flamini came in and did a fantastic job as well.

“I enjoyed it much more than a 5-2. I mean 5-2 has been very enjoyable for the last couple of years, but I will take 1-0 all day long.

“I have not kept a clean sheet in a north London derby before, so that was very important for me and it gave us the win here, so I am delighted.”

Szczesny also praised the response of the squad in winning four matches in quick succession after their opening-day defeat to Aston Villa.

“I would imagine our start to the season, in the Champions League and the Premier League, can be called strong,” he said.

“Obviously we had a very disappointing first game of the season, but we showed everyone who we are and we recovered very quickly.

“It doesn't matter who we play against at the moment, because we are so confident we will take on anyone."