Keep calm and carry on playing. That was Arsenal's approach to Sunday's stern test against Crystal Palace, much to the delight of Arsene Wenger.
The Arsenal manager was full of praise for Crystal Palace's organisation and discipline at Emirates Stadium - two qualities that kept the Gunners comfortably at bay in the first half.
But Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain broke through two minutes into the second half and added a second to secure three more points. Wenger was happy that his players did not allow frustration to set in.
"First of all it was important not to concede a goal. You could feel that if they score, you have a hell of a task to come back and win the game"
"It's important to keep calm and [keep] the composure in our team," Wenger told Arsenal Player. "That's not easy, we did that well and overall I think we have built our victory on those basics. Intelligence and a good, good defensive security.
"[We got the] job done. You know we played against a team with a very good, organised shape and with a great desire to make it difficult for us and with a great physical level.
"First of all it was important not to concede a goal. You could feel that if they score, you have a hell of a task to come back and win the game.
"We have shown a mixture of intelligence and patience and we were clinical as well with the chances that we had. Overall it was an important and convincing win."
Oxlade-Chamberlain chose the perfect time to score his first goals of the season, demonstrating an end-product to his clever build-up play.
"He is a vital player," said Wenger. "I always believed in him, let's not forget that I pushed him centrally because I've seen in him the quality in training that he can become a player in there. He has shown that I was not completely wrong with that."
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