Arsene Wenger praises 'near-perfect' display after Arsenal comfortably beat Chelsea at the Emirates 

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Arsene Wenger savoured the 'style and steel' of a 'near-perfect' display from his Arsenal players as he banished his hoodoo against Chelsea.

Wenger's team won 3-0 in the London derby at the Emirates Stadium to move into third place in the Premier League.

It is the first time he has taken three points from Chelsea since October 2011 and comes as he celebrates his 20th anniversary at the club.

Arsene Wenger praised his players after they comfortably beat Chelsea 3-0 on Saturday

'I'd be tempted to say it is one of our best performances in years, especially in the first-half,' said Wenger. 'It is one of those moments as a manager where you think today was a great day.

'We wanted to play at high-pace and put them under pressure with the speed of passing and it worked quite well.

'In the first-half it was nearly perfect. We showed great quality, we played with style and with pace, with movement. We needed to change recent history and we did it with style and steel. We were committed and disciplined.

'That's the kind of football we want to play and it confirmed we are on the way up. You cannot fault any performance from the goalkeeper to the centre-forward.

The Arsenal boss said it was the display he wanted and 'it confirmed we are on the way up'

'There is still room for improvement but that shows we can defend together and play the style of football we want. I hope this convinces the players we are on the right path.'

Alexis Sanchez seized on a mistake by Gary Cahill to fire Arsenal ahead and Theo Walcott added the second before Mesut Ozil made it 3-0 in the 40th minute.

In recent years Arsenal fans have become accustomed to losing out against Chelsea and they roared their support for their team.

Mesut Ozil scored Arsenal's third goal of the evening as they beat off Chelsea at the Emirates

Wenger added: 'I've always said it's down to us to get the fans behind the team, and not the reverse. We didn't always manage that, not least last year in a sensitive period, but today they were pleased with the quality of our performance.'

As for his own ambition at this milestone, he added: 'I am hungrier now because I know I do not have 20 more years in front of me. I also feel a responsibility.

'You can't be 20 years somewhere and not care. I am more conscious about what Arsenal is all about, and I feel the weight of keeping people happy, and making people happy.

Wenger goes to shake the hand of Chelsea manager Antonio Conte after Saturday's win

'We had to deal with some inconvenient facts before the game. We couldn't beat Chelsea for years and to get that out of the system was also at stake. It was an important psychological hurdle.

'We mustn't make too much of it but we can't ignore it and it was relevant for us because it helped us to win a big game.

'There's a long distance between winning a big game and winning the Premier League. 

'Manchester City look a long way in front but if we maintain the quality of our performances and stay consistent, we might have a chance.'

Defeat condemned Chelsea to a second successive defeat in the Premier League and a third without a win.