Arsene Wenger: 'It was a fighting performance'

Arsene Wenger praised the toughness of his players after Arsenal survived an Aston Villa comeback to win 2-1 and move back to the top of the Premier League.

Goals from Jack Wilshere and Olivier Giroud inside the space of a minute had put the Gunners 2-0 to the good, but Christian Benteke's first goal since September forced them to defend stubbornly in the final stages.

Wenger feels that his side showed the right balance of footballing skill and fight to come away from Villa Park victorious, but is still stressing that Arsenal will not get carried away in their pursuit of the title.

"Let's take care of our performances," he told Sky Sports News. "Then, you have to go forward always and get points, and see if you can make a difference with other teams.

"In the first half, we were more about playing, and the second half we were more about fighting. We needed a very good, resilient performance in the second half."

"We got the answer, even if maybe we had some dangerous situations in front of goal. They made it very physical, put the ball high up in the air and played with three through the middle."

Arsenal host Fulham next Saturday before welcoming League One Coventry City in the FA Cup.