Arsenal's win over Everton completes 'perfect week', says Arsene Wenger after Bayern Munich triumph in Europe
- Arsenal beat Everton 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday evening
- Victory moved the Gunners to the top of the table with 22 points
- On Tuesday Arsenal beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League
Arsene Wenger hailed a 'perfect week' after Arsenal beat Everton to top the Premier League.
The Gunners kept their Champions League dream alive by downing Bayern Munich on Tuesday and followed that up with a hard-fought win against Everton on Saturday.
Goals from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny in the space of two first-half minutes rubber-stamped their credentials as potential title winners.
Arsene Wenger has described Arsenal's recent results as the 'perfect week' after winning 2-1 against Everton
Olivier Giroud (left) gave Arsenal the lead with this header that escaped Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard
Laurent Koscielny (right) doubled Arsenal's lead two minutes after Giroud's opener during Saturday's victory
Manchester City will leapfrog them should they draw with Louis van Gaal's United in Sunday's derby, but that will not stop Wenger from truly believing their 12-year wait for a title could end this season.
'It is a perfect week and it's not easy to have that,' Wenger said. 'Look, it's 24 hours but we don't know. After the first game against West Ham [a 2-0 home defeat] nobody would have predicted that.
'Our attitude and our togetherness means after 10 games we are there. That shows we have made some ground up. Let's keep our togetherness and fight in the future games.
'It's very early in the season but we are happy to be where we are. We need to keep our concentration and to try to play better football game-by-game.'
Despite moving to the top of the Premier League, the Gunners boss insists his side need to maintain their form
Everton's Phil Jagielka was forced off shortly after half-time, and manager Roberto Martinez branded Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 'stupid' for his challenge to force the captain off. His knee injury will be assessed over the next 48 hours.
'It's not good - Jagielka never leaves the playing field,' Martinez said. 'Some of the [knee] structure is going to be damaged. It's such a stupid challenge. The referee has already awarded a free-kick - it was unnecessary. Oxlade-Chamberlain puts his foot up when the referee has given the free-kick.'
Martinez was not impressed with his side's defending and added: 'The first thing we couldn't do today [Saturday] was gift Arsenal a lead. We switched off and became a little bit loose.
'To concede from a set-piece was very hurtful, because Arsenal are a phenomenal football team but they are not well-known for scoring at dead-ball situations.'
Asked if he thought Arsenal would sit top at this juncture, Wenger said: 'No, honestly. I thought it would take much longer because Man City started with five wins. It was difficult to envisage that we would come back.'
Everton captain Phil Jagielka (right) was forced off in the second half after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's tackle
Everton manager Roberto Martinez has branded Oxlade-Chamberlain 'stupid' for his challenge on Jagielka
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