Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez has heaped praise on his side's 'character' after they held off a late Arsenal barrage to claim a 2-1 victory on Sunday.
------------------------------------------------------------
Predict result and win big with Soccer6
------------------------------------------------------------
Juan Mata's early strike and a Frank Lampard penalty put the Blues in the driving seat at Stamford Bridge, with Theo Walcott's second-half goal ultimately proving only a consolation.
The result helped the west London club, currently third, close the gap at the top of the standings to 11 points, and interim boss Benitez feels his side were well worth the win.
Benitez said: "We deserved to win. The team were doing really well. You can analyse every incident. The team were very good in the first half, and defended with character in the second half."
The victory marked the first in four at home for the Blues, and Benitez was delighted to see his side finally return to the winning trail in front of their own supporters.
He added: "I think we were creating a lot of chances at home in the last few games, but not winning. We were controlling the games and doing well.
"But today we had a lot of chances in the first half, were on top of them, controlling the game.
"Even in the second half, we had situations on the counter-attack where we could have scored another."
Post A Comment!
Be the first to post a comment on this story