Arsene Wenger: 'It was an intense, tight and even game. It was all about not making mistakes or giving the first goal away' 

Published: 5 October, 2014 
By PAUL COWLING at Stamford Bridge 

Premier League 
CHELSEA 2, ARSENAL 0 

ARSENE Wenger's winless streak against Jose Mourinho was extended to 12 games this afternoon (Sunday) as Arsenal were handed their first league defeat of the season at Chelsea. 

The old adversaries squared up in an ugly first-half moment when Wenger shoved Mourinho in the chest in Chelsea's technical area after Gary Cahill's reckless challenge on Alexis Sanchez. 

Wenger admitted there was "a little push" on his Chelsea counterpart, but Mourinho said he didn't have a problem with the Arsenal coach. 

Wenger had marked out "killer" Diego Costa as the dangerman before the game, and despite having a quiet afternoon it was the Spanish international who wrapped up a 2-0 win in the 78th minute. 

Inevitably former Gunner Cesc Fabregas played a part, punting a long ball forward, which Costa controlled before lobbing over Wojciech Szczesny. 

The goal killed off a game the Gunners had been chasing since the 27th minute following Eden Hazard's penalty. It was the Belgian winger who had won the spot-kick after weaving into the box and tempting a mis-timed challenge from Laurent Koscielny. 

Despite edging possession Arsenal didn't manage a single effort on target, with Wenger admitting afterwards his team really needed to score first. "It was an intense, tight and even game," he said. "It was all about not making mistakes or giving the first goal away." 

Wenger was fuming after only 19 minutes when Chelsea defender Cahill clattered into Sanchez – a tackle that the Arsenal boss said deserved more than the yellow card that it received. Wenger stormed towards Mourinho and used both hands to push the Chelsea coach in the chest, but both managers played down the incident. 

"I wanted to go from A to B. B was Sanchez, and I wanted to see how badly injured he was," said Wenger. "But someone (Mourinho) confronted me. 

"If you watch the tackle again it wouldn't surprise me if you thought it was a red card." 

It wasn't the only moment that frustrated the Frenchman. With the game poised at 1-0, Fabregas was lucky not to concede a penalty when he clearly blocked Jack Wilshere's shot with his hand. 

Mourinho taunted Wenger, and the Arsenal fans, afterwards, reminding them that Fabregas "was born to play football". 

Wenger, however, insisted that, at the end of the day, "Hazard and Costa made the difference" – two players Arsenal had no answer for. 

ARSENAL: Szczesny, Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini, Wilshere (Rosicky, 82), Cazorla (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 69), Ozil, Sanchez (Podolski, 78), Welbeck.
Subs not used: Martinez, Monreal, Campbell, Coquelin 
Attendance: 41,607