Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was happier with some aspects of his side’s performance as they beat the Blues 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium than he had been with the Gunners’ display in their 5-1 hammering of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
Kai Havertz’s 23rd-minute goal was enough to see the North Londoners to victory over a stoic Town team which limited the home side to few chances while creating few opportunities of their own.
"Very happy with the victory, the clean sheet and big parts of the game,” Arteta said. "It was a really difficult opposition.
"We had some big openings in the second half when we were being more aggressive. We should have scored more.”
Asked whether the performance was more satisfying in some ways than the Palace win despite the margin of victory being much narrower, the Spaniard replied: "In terms of the way we controlled the position because we conceded 14 or 15 shots against Palace and that’s something we don’t normally do.
"Overall, I think this one was much better, but it’s about the goals as well and the beauty of it and entertaining people, and that was probably better for them.”
Arteta, whose side moved up to second following their win against the Blues and Chelsea’s 2-1 home defeat to Fulham on Thursday, felt it was a display to build on, the Gunners having failed to take all three points from the 0-0 draw at home to Everton and the 1-1 stalemate at Fulham earlier in the month.
"That’s a big platform to continue,” he added. "We have, in my opinion, dropped some points that we deserved to have on the board.
"Overall, with everything that we have been through in the first six months of the season, I think the team is in a good position.
"I’m really happy, really happy to win the game, with big parts of the performance of the team, [especially] with the clean sheet. It’s so tough to win in this festive period, a lot of games, a lot of distractions and the team performed, and deserved to win the game again.
"The spaces are so tight when you see the stats and what we produced in the first half, the team is trying everything that it can and we don’t give anything away, no shots, nothing at all, which is remarkable. There are always things to improve, to do better but overall the team was very solid.
"With the level in this league, you know what’s coming. They start to throw everybody forward, very direct, you concede one or two set-pieces and you’re going to defend deep.
"We’ve done it, without again conceding a shot, so it’s more the suffering and the fact that you want to close the game, than actually what they generated.”